Rogue exoplanet PSO J318.5-22 has thin and thick layers of dusty cloud, from which molten iron rain falls MPIA/V. Ch. Quetz

Acid fog, rain made of glass and temperatures ranging from absolute zero to more than 2,700 degrees C -- the universe is a tough place to live if you're not on our pale blue dot.

The discovery this week of a planet-like object 75 light years from Earth where it rains molten iron shows once again how varied and bizarre the universe is.


The object, PSO J318.5-22, is about the same size as Jupiter, with temperatures exceeding 800 degrees C. University researchers used a telescope in Chile to study the weather systems of the distant world, observing thin and thick layers of dusty cloud, from which molten iron rain falls. Perhaps odder still, PSO J318.5-22 doesn't orbit a star, with the rogue planet wandering alone in dark.

Closer to home, Nasa's recent mission to Pluto showed the distant dwarf planet to be a remarkably active world. Glaciers on Pluto are made of frozen nitrogen, while a thin atmosphere of nitrogen, methane and carbon monoxide coats Pluto in a thin layer of smog. Nasa also believes that nitrogen snow falls on Pluto.

But it gets a whole lot stranger than that.

Gallery: the universe's weirdest weather