US EditionOxford Study Identifies New Class of Molten Exoplanet
L 98-59 d’s global magma ocean stores large sulphur amounts, maintaining a hydrogen-rich atmosphere over billions of years, revealing a new exoplanet class, Oxford researchers say.
- On Monday, the University of Oxford-led team will publish in Nature Astronomy that L 98-59 d is a molten, sulphur-rich exoplanet with hydrogen sulphide in its atmosphere.
- Following 2024 James Webb Space Telescope and ground-based spectra, researchers observed low density and sulphur-bearing gases around L 98-59 d and used simulations to model its five-billion-year evolution.
- Their models show that the mantle of L 98-59 d contains a global magma ocean thousands of kilometres deep that stores sulphur, while ultraviolet light from the red dwarf L 98-59 drives atmospheric sulphur-bearing gas chemistry.
- The team intend to apply their simulations to JWST, Ariel, and PLATO data, suggesting L 98-59 d may define a new class of sulphur-rich planets.
- Using magma-ocean physics, the team proposes that models applied to upcoming JWST, Ariel, and PLATO data could map planetary diversity and habitability, informing our understanding of rocky planet formation.
37 Articles
37 Articles
Scientists discover pungent sulfur planet beyond our solar system
A University of Oxford-led study has identified a new type of exoplanet with sulfur-rich magma oceans located about 35 light-years from our solar system.Typically, planets are classified as small, rocky worlds or large gas giants. L 98-59 d appears to fit neither category.The planet is about 60% larger than Earth but has little in common with it. Scientists say L 98-59 d has a much lower density than Earth, and it differs significantly from gas …
Astronomers identify planet fundamentally different to anything seen before
Scientists have identified what is believed to be an entirely new type of planet made completely of molten lava. The planet, designated L98-59d, is found approximately 35 light-years from Earth and measures roughly 1.6 times our planet's diameter, circling a compact red dwarf star.Researchers had previously speculated that this distant planet might contain vast quantities of liquid water.However, fresh analysis published in Nature Astronomy poin…
Unveiling L 98-59 d: The Molten Planet Next Door | Science-Environment
Unveiling L 98-59 d: The Molten Planet Next Door Astronomers have identified a planet orbiting a nearby star in the Milky Way, featuring a perpetual magma ocean and a sulfur-rich, searingly hot atmosphere. Named L 98-59 d, this exoplanet is over 60% larger than Earth but less dense, and it orbits a faint red dwarf 34 light-years away in the constellation Volans.Harrison Nicholls, leading the research at the University of Cambridge's Institute of…
Channel News Asia
Molten alien planet with sulfur-choked atmosphere displays unique hellscape
WASHINGTON, March 16 : Astronomers have spotted a planet orbiting a star in our neighborhood of the Milky Way galaxy that presents a unique hellscape - covered with a perpetual ocean of magma and enveloped by a noxious and fiercely hot sulfur-rich atmosphere.The molten planet's diameter is more than 60 per ce
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