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Exoplanet Has Showers of Pebbles

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the gonna-need-a-thicker-umbrella dept.

mmmscience writes "The newly-discovered exoplanet COROT-7b has an unusual form of precipitation: rocks. Because it orbits so close to its sun, the temperature on its sun-facing side is around 4220 degrees Fahrenheit. That's hot enough for rocks to vaporize — not unlike water evaporating on Earth. And, like Earth, when the vapor cools in the upper atmosphere, it forms clouds and begins to rain. But instead of water, COROT-7b gets a shower of pebbles."

1 of 341 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Not unusual by Thelasko · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We get solid precipitation here on earth all the time.

    The parent raises a good point. How do we know the rock comes back down to the surface as a solid? Why doesn't it rain lava?

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