Scientists discover bizarre 'super Earth' with seas of LAVA where sun never sets

Scientists have discovered a spectacular 'super Earth' that has seas of molten lava - and is permanently stuck in daylight on one side.

The ancient planet, known as TOI-561 b, left astronomers puzzled after it was found to have an "impossible" rich atmosphere despite having extreme surface temperatures of 1,800C - and further study now suggests this is due to massive oceans of liquid, molten rock.

Located 560 light-years (5.88 trillion miles) away from Earth in the outer reaches of the Milky Way, its discovery confounds previous scientific theories that hot planets cannot retain atmospheres. Readings from the James Webb space telescope now suggest its atmosphere could contain water, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.

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As an 'ultra-short-period planet' with a fast orbit, calendar year on TOI-561 b lasts just under 11 hours, as it is so close to its star. This is roughly 1/40th the distance of Mercury to our Sun.

One side of the planet is locked in eternal daylight, though the presence of an atmosphere means the dark side is warmed by circulated heat.

The star it orbits is 10 billion years old, about twice the age of our Sun.

As well as challenging previous scientific consensus about hot planets, it existence also indicates that rocky planets were forming early in the universe’s history, as it is thought be about 10 billion years old.

Speaking to Science Daily, Postdoctoral Fellow Nicole Wallack from Carnegie Science in Washington DC said :"Based 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.

"But our observations suggest it is surrounded by a relatively thick blanket of gas, upending conventional wisdom about ultra-short-period planets."

TOI-561 b was discovered by NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and announced in early 2021, with further inspection of the planet carried out by scientists using data from the James Webb.

Describing the planet as a "wet lava ball", study co-author Tim Lichtenberg from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands said: "We think there is an equilibrium between the magma ocean and the atmosphere. At 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."

The James Webb, a $10 billion (£7.5 billion) telescope launched into space in 2021, is currently located about one million miles from Earth, where it orbits the Sun. Built as a joint project between NASA, the European space agency and Canadian Space Agency, it has been used to study the universe's earliest known galaxies, including some created over 13.5 billion years ago, and distant exoplanets such as TOI-561 b.