'Hotter than lava': Scientists discover 'hellish' planet where metal vaporises instantly

Astrophysicists in Australia have discovered what they termed as a “hellish” world that could be the hottest planet known in the universe. The team from the University of Southern Queensland stressed that the day time temperature on the newly described planet could surge to roughly 2700 degrees. The planet, which they’ve named TOI-1431b or MASCARA-5b, is located over 490 light-years from earth.

“This is a very hellish world - dayside temperature of … approximately 2700 degrees Celcius and nightside temperature approaching … approximately 2300 degrees Celcius – no life could survive in its atmosphere. In fact, the planet’s nightside temperature is the second hottest ever measured”, said Dr Brett Addison, a University of Southern Queensland astrophysicist, in a statement.

'Particularly Interesting discovery'

He further said that it was a “particularly interesting discovery” as the host of the planet was “one of the hottest stars” with a transiting planet ever found. Additionally, he also said that another reason for its being the hottest planets to be ever surveyed was because it orbited at a very close distance to its star.

Interestingly, the experts also stated that the temperature on the MASCARA-5b was significantly higher than the melting points of most metals. This directly implies that metals like Titanium (melting point of 1670 degrees celsius), Platinum (1770 degrees celsius) could instantly vaporize on this planet. Almost all metals have to melt point lower than 2000 degrees celsius and could easily turn liquid beyond this temperature. 

Another unique feature of the planet is that it has a retrograde orbit. “If you look at the Solar System, all the planets orbit in the same direction that the Sun rotates and they’re all along the same plane. This new planet’s orbit is tilted so much that it is actually going in the opposite direction to the rotation of its host star,” Dr Addison said. TOI-1431b was initially spotted by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), corroborated by observations and study from the Stellar Observation Network Group (SONG) telescope in the Canary Islands. The planet falls in the category of what scientists call 'Hot Jupiters'. 

Image Credits: NASA