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Entering orbit…
Habitability
0/ 100
Uninhabitable
M15 X-2 b rendered in TerraForge from its measured mass, orbit and star

M15 X-2 b

Also written M15 X-2b, M15 X 2b, M15 X 2 b

Brown DwarfUninhabitable33904 light years awayFound 2005
exoplanet.euListed by the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia; not yet in NASA's confirmed catalogue.View on exoplanet.eu

Estimated: this planet doesn't transit its star, so its size is inferred, not measured

M15 X-2 b, from the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia (found 2005). Measured: 9530 Earth masses, 0.00138 AU, a 32000 K O-type star. Composition inferred from a mass of 9530 Earths, which is giant territory whatever its 8.98x density suggests, with a day locked to its 0.0-day year, as anything orbiting this close would be.

Host star

M15 X-2

Type
O-type (Blue Supergiant)
Spectral type
PSR
Temperature
32,000 K
Radius
0.0000144 ☉
Mass
1.4 ☉
Known planets
1 (this one)
Luminosity
1.96e-7 ☉

Published by the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. This world’s temperature and habitability score are computed from its star’s published radius and temperature.

Brown Dwarf

Magnetic FieldNone Activity
Why is this a Brown Dwarf?
M15 X-2 b has an unusual composition that doesn't fit standard classifications, or lacks the elements needed for complex geological processes.
Barren worlds can form from uncommon element combinations or may be remnants of larger bodies that lost their atmospheres and volatile materials.
Classification Criteria:
Composition doesn't match standard planet typesMass: 9530.0x EarthTemperature: 2198K

Reading M15 X-2 b’s atmosphere

Dominant elements: H, He, O, C, NThis is what a telescope would measure while M15 X-2 b crosses in front of its star: starlight passes through the atmosphere and spreads into a rainbow band. Each dark line marks a wavelength the atmosphere absorbed.Every element absorbs its own signature wavelengths — hydrogen always darkens the same two spots, calcium another pair, and so on. Astronomers match the lines in a real spectrum against a library of these signatures to say what an atmosphere is made of, light-years away, without ever visiting. A deeper line generally means more of that element is present.M15 X-2 b sits about 33921 light-years away. Most catalogued distances trace back to parallax: as Earth orbits the Sun, a nearby star appears to shift very slightly against the distant background stars, and the size of that shift gives its distance directly.
Further reading
ExoplanetsSara Seager (editor)The field's standard reference: how planets are found, how they form, and what their atmospheres are made of.The Planet FactoryElizabeth TaskerHow planets are made, and why so few of them come out like Earth.The Little Book of ExoplanetsJoshua WinnHow these worlds are found, and what a measurement can honestly tell us.Exoplanets: Diamond Worlds, Super Earths, Pulsar PlanetsMichael Summers & James TrefilThe strange end of the catalogue — carbon worlds, molten rock, planets orbiting dead stars.
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Habitability ScoreUninhabitable
0
Contributing Factors
temperature0
Inferno world - temperatures exceed all possibility of life
atmosphere3
Hydrogen-rich atmosphere typical of gas giants (severely compromised by extreme rotation)
water2
No solid surface — any water is locked in a supercritical mantle and hot ice, not oceans (water stripped by extreme rotation)
magnetic Field20
A strong field, but no surface beneath it — there is nothing here for it to shelter
geology30
Geologically dead - no nutrient recycling
Organic Chemistry80
Core organic elements (CHNO) present
rotation0
Catastrophic rotation - centrifugal forces would destroy surface structures and prevent atmosphere retention

Physical Properties

Mass
9530.00x Earth (5.69e+28 kg)
Radius
21.20x Earth (135,074 km)
This planet: 21.20× Earth radiusEarth: 1× (baseline)
Surface Gravity
21.20x Earth (208.0 m/s²)
Surface Temperature
2,198 K (1,925 °C / 3,497 °F)
Rotation Period
1.0 hours/day (faster than Earth)
This planet: 1 h/dayEarth: 24 h/day

Orbital Environment

Star Type
O-type (Blue Supergiant)
Distance from Star
0.01 AU (1.5 million km)
Orbital Period
0 days
Time Dilation
Clocks run 23.4 minutes per year slower than deep space — about 31.2 hours over a lifetime

Atmosphere

Hydrogen and helium with iron and silicate cloud decks - hot enough to rain molten metal

Elemental Composition

H - Hydrogen
53.8%
He - Helium
32.3%
O - Oxygen
5.4%

Surface Characteristics

No surface: a deuterium-burning sphere the size of Jupiter and dozens of times its mass, glowing dull red from its own heat
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The surface of TOI-700 d as TerraForge draws it: red-leaved trees over green ground under a lavender sky

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Open any planet's surface view on your phone and look around just by moving it: hold it up, turn on the spot, and the view turns with you. In Chrome on Android you also get a VR button, in the row along the bottom:

The surface view's bottom row of buttons on a phone, with an arrow pointing to the VR button beside full screen

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