Cloudy With a Chance of Molten Balls: Meet COROT-7b

Talk about global warming. Astronomers have located a bizarre planet named COROT-7b where rocks form in clouds and fall to the ground — which is so hot that it melts rocks.

As on Earth, finding the right place on COROT-7b is all about “location, location, location.” The orange dwarf star is in the constellation Monoceros and is about twice the size of Earth. However, it is 23 times closer to its Sun, resulting in fantastic temperatures. Because it is gravitationally locked, it does not rotate — resulting in one side remaining in the darkness at 50 degrees above absolute zero. Absolute zero is −459.67° on the Fahrenheit scale so the temperature on the dark side is a chilling -409°.

That, however, is still better than the balmy side, which reaches 2,800C. That is a bit over what we would consider tropical. More like hellish.

What is most interesting is the rain. Due to the high temperature, the rock surface melts into a molten soup. When “cold fronts” move in, the rocky vapor turns to small stones and pebbles in the clouds and fall to the ground and “lava oceans.”

When Willard Scott has nightmares, this is the place he dreams about: “Well, Corotians, it will be another muggy day with a chance of stone showers. Remember to wear your sunblock SPF 5000.”

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