Real Planets Stranger Than Science Fiction Part 1

There is nothing like a planet made of ice that could send the chills through your spine, unless of course, you are an Andorian. So just imagine, a planet completely covered in ice and you can imagine Gliese 436 b. However, this star is so close to its sun, the surface temperature is a consistent 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Artist's conception of Gliese 436 b

(Img: From wikipedia)

You are probably now understandably confused. Everyone knows there’s no way that ice, let alone liquid water, can exist at more than four times its boiling temperature. But Gliese 436 b has the remarkable ability to defy everything you know about the predictability of matter. The gravity on the planet is so powerful that it compresses all of the water vapor in the atmosphere and pushes it together into a solid, forming a thick layer over the entire planet of what scientists call “ice ten.”


Possible interior structure of Gliese 436 b

(Img: From wikipedia)