EARTH won’t last forever and the idea of finding a new planet for humans to live on has long been a subject of debate.
Thankfully, experts don’t think the Sun will die for another five billion years yet, so we are fine for now.
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And if we do decide to pack our bags and leave, there are many options out there to consider.
Elon Musk has long pitched Mars as one of them.
But there are some that out of the question and will NEVER be fit for us to live on, beyond the obvious limitations like oxygen.
Here are some you won’t see us blasting off to…
WASP-76b: Molten iron rain
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If you thought a torrential downpour in winter was bad, try living on exoplanet WASP-76b.
It’s so close to its star that one side reaches temperatures of 2,500 degrees, which is scorching enough to vaporise iron.
And if you thought the other side was any better, think again.
It’s slightly cooler at 1,000 degrees – still too hot for us – but powerful winds sweep molten iron across and form into lethal droplets that fall.
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HD 189733 b: Glass rain
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Situated 64.5 light-years away from us is the rather beautiful glass-looking HD 189733 b.
But that glassiness is actually a sign of the very thing that would quickly end you on this exoplanet.
Because what you can see is actually the fatal weather systems that move across it, which include molten glass which hammer down in ferocious spells of rain.
Kepler-10b: Lava and radiation
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If you thought molten iron rain was bad, how about adding silicates into the mix, as well as a host of other dangers?
Kepler-10b has no atmosphere because it’s so close to its star.
And scientists believe it’s pretty much covered in lava, which isn’t ideal.
OGLE-2016-BLG-1928: Going it alone
Planets need a star to rotate around to stay stable – and safe – but OGLE-2016-BLG-1928 didn’t quite fancy it.
After abandoning its mothership, it now wanders through the Milky Way willy nilly.
Not only is this dangerous but it’s already hell for astronomers to spot – so imagine trying to plan a trip to land on it.
TrES-2b: Darkness
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We not only need light to see, but to grow.
Which is why TrES-2b is an instant no, as it’s so dark that scientists say coal would look lighter if you place the two side by side.
The planet is so black because its atmosphere absorbs over 99 percent of light from its host star.
TESS reveals promising new world, GJ 357 d, that orbits a star’s ‘habitable zone’ – Nasa will look for signs of life on the exoplanet
In other news, personalised smart guns, which can be fired only by verified users, may finally become available to U.S. consumers this year.
Tech giant Microsoft is trying to make the world more woke by rolling out an “inclusiveness” checker in its Word software.
And a federal anti-trust case against Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, has been given the go-ahead.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
