These Are The Worst Planets in the Universe, According to Scientists

Planet Earth is positioned in the perfect spot to cultivate life, both human and other. And with scientist estimating that there are over 30 billion planets in the universe, there may be other worlds that could sustain life.

But what about the less desirable planets? The planets that so horrible they offer us nothing of interest to study much less to sustain life. So Gizmodo asked several planetary astronomers which planets are the absolute worst and they divulged their personal least favorites.

Jessie Christiansen, an astrophysicist at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech, says HD 189733 b, one of the best-studied planets, just keeps getting worse and worse.

“It’s a ‘hot Jupiter’ and we now know enough about its atmosphere—the temperature, structure, composition and wind-speed—to know that it’s so hellish it’s always raining liquid glass. Sideways. Hard pass.” Christensen told Gizmodo.

Venus is also one planet you should avoid at all costs. “The worst planet is Venus because everything about it is trying to kill you.” Tanya Harrison, the Director of Research at Arizona State University’s Space Technology and Science Initiative, says. “From the metal-melting temperatures to the sulfuric acid atmosphere, it’s just not a place that really wants anything from Earth visiting it too closely.”

One astrophysicist, however, has a more cynical opinion.

“I mean obviously the worst planet is Earth because of all the annoying humans infesting it (I call this the Misanthropic Principle).” Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

“Other than that, the lava planet COROT-7b is the really obvious one, it takes global warming to ludicrous extremes.”