Raining molten glass

From space HD 189733 b appears to be a beautiful and tranquil world, resembling a giant, glassy blue marble. With exoplanets appearances can be deceptive, and this is definitely the case for this gas giant planet, which completes an orbit of its star in just 2.2 days. In fact, its beautiful blue hue arises from its deadly weather, particularly the molten glass rains that pelt the planet’s surface. Yet this isn’t the extent of the planet’s almost-maniacal weather conditions. The exoplanet – discovered in 2005 by both the Chandra X-ray Observatory and XMM-Newton X-ray telescope – also experiences winds of around 9,000 kilometres (5,592 miles) per hour. These supersonic winds cause the exoplanet’s glass rains to arc sideways towards the ground rather than just falling, also picking up silicate particles and turning them into microscopic projectiles.

HD 189733 b isn’t just interesting to astronomers because of its unusual and hazardous weather, though. The giant exoplanet has been observed to possess an atmosphere that is much larger than scientists would expect for such a world. This extended atmosphere works to catch more of the radiation HD 189733 b receives from its parent stars thanks to its perilously close orbit, meaning the gas giant experiences temperatures as high as 930 degrees Celsius (1,706 degrees Fahrenheit).