See the 8 'Star Wars' Planets in Our Own Milky Way Galaxy - Geek

Star Wars universe planets, including icy Hoth and sandy Tatooine, are sadly not real. However, our Milky Way galaxy has exoplanets that are strikingly similar to their fantasy counterparts, and they offer cool insights into the solar system.

In honor of Star Wars Day, NASA recently compared eight real-life exoplanets to mesmerizing planets featured in some Star Wars films in a press release. No signs of life have been detected on any of the roughly 4,000 exoplanets, so it’s uncertain if dewbacks, wookiees, or ewoks reside there. However, may the Fourth be with you and feast your eyes on our Milky Way galaxy’s breathtaking “Star Wars” exoplanets.

In a galaxy not-so-far-away, there are 8 planets that will make you think #StarWars could be real! These exoplanets have uncanny characteristics to their movie counterparts and reside in our own cosmic neighborhood. Learn more: https://t.co/WXAETzUbbK #MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/L9FtJMWGVk

— NASA Blueshift (@NASAblueshift) May 4, 2019

Coruscant

The Coruscant-like world Kepler-452b. (Photo Credit: NASA Ames/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle)

Kepler-452b, the exoplanet with Earth-like properties, could be a good comparison to Coruscant, the futuristic hub with a surface fenced in a single, globe-spinning metropolis. Like Coruscant, Kepler-452b might need some climate engineering if inhabited, since this planet, which belongs to a star system that’s 1.5 billion years older than our planet’s, has warmer conditions.

Bespin

On the planet Bespin, the Cloud City floats in the clouds, which might be present on a cool gas planet. (Photo Credit: ESO/L. Calçada)

In Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Bespin, a gas giant, is home to a bustling “Cloud City” that participates in atmospheric mining. NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has detected “hot Jupiters” which are too warm for floating metropolises. However, one of NASA’s internal astronomical teams found a twin of Jupiter, which orbits its star roughly the same distance as Jupiter is from the sun. The star, dubbed HIP 11915, is approximately the same age as our sun.

Mustafar

CoRoT-7b, a scorching planet, bears a striking resemblance to the planet Mustafar. (Photo Credit: ESO/L. Calçada)

Can you feel the heat? Mustafar, the planet where Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker battled it out in Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith (2005), looks like Kepler-10b and Kepler-78b, molten, lava-covered rocky planets in Earth’s size range. But, CoRoT-7b, a 3,600 degrees Fahrenheit planet, beats both Kepler-10b and Kepler-78b when it comes to a scorching hot atmosphere. 

Hoth

OGLE-2005-BLG-390, an ice planet, is nicknamed after Hoth. (Photo Credit: NASA, ESA and G. Bacon-STScI)

Planet OGLE-2005-BLG-390, also known as “Hoth,” is a very cold planet that could be a “failed Jupiter,” according to NASA. The planet, which resembles the icy hub of Hoth in Star Wars, is located in the center of the Milky Way and has a surface temperature estimated to be minus 364 degrees Fahrenheit. (Ice, ice baby.) Even the wampas wouldn’t be able to stand the chill.

Tatooine

The Kepler-16 binary star system creates a “double sunset effect” similar to the one on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker’s home planet. (Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle)

Tatooine, Luke Skywalker’s home planet, has a desert-like climate and twin suns. Kepler-16b, a planet discovered to be in “circumbinary orbit” (circling two stars), also creates a “double sunset effect” similar to Tatooine. However, the planet is most likely cold, partly composed of rock, and is gaseous.

Kamino

Kepler-22b looks like Kamino’s ocean world landscape. (Photo Credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech)

Under the sea? Nope, it’s Kamino, an ocean world that’s inhabited by bug-eyed, long-necked cloners. Kepler-22b is a super-Earth that might be covered in a massive ocean: it’s 2.4 times Earth’s radius and could be gaseous. However, one upside to this situation: Scientists determined that due to the exoplanet’s bizarre tilt, the climate could be spring-like all year long.

Endor

Astronomers continue to search for the first confirmed exomoons, similar to Endor, a forested moon in ‘Star Wars.’ (Photo Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser/Nick Risinger)

Endor, a forested moon in Star Wars, is the homeworld of the ewoks. However, exomoon detection is still in the beginning stages for scientists on our planet. A possible exomoon, also known as a moon circling a distant planet, was reportedly observed in 2014. Sadly, the microlensing event can only be seen once, so it won’t be possible to officially confirm the sight.

Alderaan

Like Alderaan, very young stars can be surrounded by a disk of dust and gas. (Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)

Princess Leia’s home planet, Alderaan, is blasted by the Empire’s Death Star in Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope (1977). Similar to this scenario, a white dwarf star was spotted swallowing the last remains of a small planet in 2015, thanks to NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. White dwarfs are super-dense stellar remains, but they have gravity more than 10,000 times our sun’s surface and can destroy anything caught up in their pulls. 

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2019-05-05 02:10:44Z
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