Aqualis Inferno
A realm of boiling oceans, salt flats and huge storms
A super-Earth exoplanet that has a mass approximately 1.84 times that of Earth and orbits very close to its star at a distance of 0.036 AU, completing one orbit in just 3.9 days around an M-type dwarf star. This star is smaller and cooler than our Sun, with roughly one-third of its mass and size, and about 40% cooler. The planet’s close orbit means that it receives a lot of insolation, even from this small and cold star. The average surface temperatures on Aqualis reach 250°C. This is too hot for even the most extremophile forms of life, but not for liquid water thanks to a dense atmosphere with a surface pressure of 85 bars.
Planet summary
The following table summarizes the characteristics of this planet, comparing its mass, radius, and gravity with that of the Earth (Me, Re and g). A similar table can be found below, comparing the characteristics of the star’s mass, radius, and light with our Sun (Ms, Rs and Ls).
|
Type
|
Mass
|
Radious
|
Density
|
Gravity
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Superearth
|
1,84 (Me)
|
1,22 (Re)
|
5,65 (g/cm3)
|
1,24 (g)
|
|
Type
|
Mass
|
Radious
|
Light
|
Temp.
|
Year
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
M
|
0,362 (Ms)
|
0,333 (Rs)
|
1,40% (Ls)
|
3488 (K)
|
3,9 (days)
|
Surface conditions
The close orbit means that the planet is tidally locked, with one side always facing the star, where temperatures reach 300°C near the subsolar point. Here, the oceans are shallow, fragmented, and continuously boiling, separated by vast salt flats with evaporites around bubbling salty lakes.
The night side exists in perpetual darkness and is much cooler, but still with temperatures around 120°C due to heat transported by the dense atmosphere. This heat and vapor drive violent electric storms, but the rain often evaporates before reaching the ground.
Huge clouds of water vapor rise into the sky, creating enormous storm systems. The dim light of the red dwarf star becomes even redder as it passes through the thick, aerosol-laden atmosphere, illuminating the clouds with pink and orange hues.
However, this scene is short-lived, as the high temperatures create an atmosphere rich in water vapor, which is continuously eroded by stellar winds and strong UV radiation from solar flares.
This fictional world is based on GJ 357 b, discovered in 2019 using data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The planet orbit the M-type dwarf star GJ 357, located approximately 31 light-years away in the constellation Hydra. Also, planet Venus in the far past could have been similar to Aqualis Inferno, before the runaway greenhouse took over the planet.
More information about GJ 357 b: