NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has released shocking details of ‘exoplanet horrors’ in a video compilation created to celebrate Halloween. An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. WASP-12b is an extrasolar planet orbiting the star WASP-12, discovered by the SuperWASP planetary transit survey and announced on April 1, 2008.
In a blog post to celebrate Halloween, NASA wrote: “A hulking monster of a star is stealing pieces of its nearby planet, WASP-12b, to assemble itself into the ultimate Frankenstein creation.
“The extreme gravity is stretching the hot gas giant into the shape of an egg, all the while slowly cannibalising the planet.
“Relatively soon (10 million years – a fleeting moment in space-time) this planet will be completely devoured by its hungry star.
“If you enjoy watching the world fall to pieces, then this planet is for you.”
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TrEs-2b is another extrasolar planet identified in 2011 as the darkest known exoplanet, reflecting less than one percent of any light that hits it.
NASA added: “TrEs-2b is the planet of eternal night.
“The darkest planet ever discovered orbiting a star, this alien world is less reflective than coal.
“Inside its atmosphere, you’d be flying blind in the dark. Some scientists think an eerie deep red glow would emanate from its burning atmosphere. The air of this planet is as hot as lava.”
It continued: “That’s the entire surface of 55 Cancri e. Don’t be fooled by the sparkling skies above.
“Those clouds are filled with silicate particles that would be deadly to breathe.
“One side of this tidally-locked planet is in perpetual darkness, the other in blinding heat.
“Gloom lingers in the Twilight Zone where the two sides meet.”