The Cosmic Companion VIP Newsletter - Exoplanets and Neil deGrasse Tyson Preview

A space hurricane, exoplanets of volcanoes and lava, and a sneak preview of next week's interview with Neil deGrasse Tyson!

Hello everyone!

This week, we learn about the space hurricane ever spotted. We will also visit two different exoplanets that may strangely look familiar to Star Wars fans. One of these is thought to be a lava world, while the other may be largely covered in volcanoes.

An artist’s concept of the lava planet LHS 3844b. Image credit: The Cosmic Companion / Created in Universe Sandbox

A space hurricane was recently spotted for the first time, forming in the upper reaches of the Earth's atmosphere. These features have previously been theorized, although they were never seen before now. This space hurricane, seen by four satellites in 2014, formed high over the North Pole, where it developed several arms, and lasted about eight hours before dissipating. Hurricanes have previously been spotted on Mars, but those were near the surface, similar to the terrestrial tempests seen here on Earth.

A newly discovered exoplanet, Gliese 486 b, may be covered in rivers of lava, a new study finds. This worl…