HD 189733b is a blue exoplanet that orbits HD 189733, a K-type star and takes just 2.2 days to complete an orbit in its system. It is a gas giant that has a slightly bigger mass than Jupiter. It is approximately 64 light years away from Earth, and was discovered by astronomers in France, 2005, using the transit method, which measures the light curve of distant stars for dips in brightness when exoplanets pass by them.
HD 189733b is so close to its host star, that it is tidally locked, showing one face to HD 189733 at all times. In 2007, scientist heather, and his colleges used NASA spitzer space telescope to map the exoplanet’s weather, creating one of the first temperature maps of an exoplanet. They recorded on the side of the planet facing the star, to be approximately 1700 degrees Fahrenheit, and the side facing away to be 1200 degrees Fahrenheit. The 500-degree difference causes powerful winds reaching 5,400 MPH, which is about 7 times the speed of sound.
HD 189733b rains are made of glass, swirling sideways with the wind. These rains have been nicknamed, ‘The rains of terror’ by NASA. The host star’s X-ray and UV radiation are actively evaporating the exoplanet’s atmosphere. In the future, HD 189733b may not even have an atmosphere at all.
With all these factors, this exoplanet would most definitely be inhabitable to any living species.
RELATED STORIES:
https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanets/
https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/hd-189733-b/HD 189733 b – NASA Science
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/exoplanet-hd-189733b/Exoplanet HD 189733b – NASA
https://newspaceeconomy.ca/2025/02/15/theres-a-planet-where-it-rains-molten-glass/
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