{"id":4257,"date":"2026-03-24T11:01:25","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/24\/astronomers-declare-they-have-found-a-distant-super-earth\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T11:01:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T11:01:26","slug":"astronomers-declare-they-have-found-a-distant-super-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bangbizarre.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/24\/astronomers-declare-they-have-found-a-distant-super-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Astronomers declare they have found a distant \u2018Super Earth\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

2026-03-24 11:01:24<\/b>
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Astronomers say they have found a distant \u2018Super Earth\u2019 with a thick atmosphere and extreme heat.

\nNicole Wallack, a postdoctoral fellow at Carnegie Science, explained the findings after renewed analysis of TOI-561 b, an ancient exoplanet located about 560 light-years from Earth.

\nFirst identified in 2021 by NASA\u2019s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, the planet has since been studied using data from the James Webb space telescope.

\nScientists say the orb reaches surface temperatures of around 1,800C and completes a full orbit of its star in just under 11 hours, classifying it as an ultra-short-period planet.

\nOne side remains in permanent daylight, while the other is kept warm through atmospheric heat circulation.

\nDespite these conditions, observations suggest the presence of an atmosphere potentially containing water, oxygen and carbon dioxide \u2013 a finding that challenges previous assumptions about how such planets form and evolve.

\nNicole told Science Daily: \u201cBased on what we know about other systems, astronomers would have predicted that a planet like this is too small and hot to retain its own atmosphere for long after formation.\u201d

\nShe added: \u201cBut our observations suggest it is surrounded by a relatively thick blanket of gas, upending conventional wisdom about ultra-short-period planets.\u201d

\nTim Lichtenberg from the University of Groningen described the planet\u2019s surface as dominated by molten rock interacting with its atmosphere.

\nHe said: \u201cWe think there is an equilibrium between the magma ocean and the atmosphere.

\n\u201cAt the same time that gases are coming out of the planet to feed the atmosphere, the magma ocean is sucking them back into the interior.\u201d

\nThe so-called Super Earth is thought to be about 10 billion years old, orbiting a star estimated to be roughly twice the age of the Sun.

\nResearchers say its existence suggests rocky planets were forming much earlier in the universe\u2019s history than previously understood.

\nThe James Webb space telescope \u2013 a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency \u2013\u00a0has been central to the discovery.

\nPositioned about one million miles from Earth, the observatory has been used to study some of the earliest galaxies in the universe, as well as distant exoplanets such as TOI-561 b.

\nThe findings add to growing evidence that planetary systems can behave in ways that challenge established models, particularly in extreme environments where heat, pressure and atmospheric dynamics interact in unexpected ways.
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