HD 80606b : from 800 to 1,500 Kelvin in six hours

[james_davis_nicoll]

"This is the first time that we've detected weather changes in real time on a planet outside our solar system."

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Okay . . . so it goes from a bit above the melting point of lead to just about the boiling point of lead . . . that's pretty darned hot, from where I'm sitting as a liquid dihytrogen monoxide-based critter . . .

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

So the local residents are running a lead based liquid through their veins?

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Seems like that would be a necessity, wouldn't it?

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I strongly doubt it. Boiling things in your veins is usually a bad idea.

[galbinus-caeli.livejournal.com]

I thought it said "almost boiling". And many earth creatures are able to keep their internal temperatures slightly below ambient. They could also be nocturnal.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

Okay, yeah -- I thought the temperature was closer than that, because I saw the boiling point of lead in Centigrade and thought it was Kelvin.

Oops.