James Webb discovers a scorching lava planet with a “giant sunscreen”

A scorching lava planet 280 light-years away has surprised astronomers by apparently maintaining a thick atmosphere despite conditions that should have stripped it away billions of years ago. James Webb Space Telescope observations suggest that TOI-561 b reflects about 75% of incoming starlight, possibly because of mineral clouds that act like a giant sunscreen. The planet may also be continually replenishing its atmosphere through gases released from a global ocean of molten rock.

James Webb discovers a scorching lava planet with a “giant sunscreen”. Webb observations show the planet reflects most of its starlight, and models suggest bright silicate clouds above its magma ocean may be the reason. Astronomers have discovered surprising evidence that a scorching planet covered in molten rock may be protected by a reflective layer of clouds that acts like a giant sunscreen.

Scientists previously believed that the planet’s extreme conditions would make it nearly impossible for an atmosphere to survive, but new observations suggest otherwise. An international team of researchers, including Dr. Anjali Piette, an astrophysicist at the University of Birmingham, reported the findings in The Astronomical Journal.