Research
Atmosphere of lava planet: ‘A cloudy, reflective sunscreen’
EarthSky · By Paul Scott Anderson ·
The Brief
- New observations from NASA's James Webb Space Telescope show again that the lava planet TOI-561 b has a dense atmosphere.
- The atmosphere is highly reflective, which suggests clouds or haze.
- EarthSky describes the atmosphere as a cloudy, reflective sunscreen.
Why it matters
The result adds to evidence on whether lava-covered super-Earths can keep dense atmospheres, which bears on how scientists interpret atmospheres of rocky exoplanets.
Who’s affected
- astronomers studying exoplanet atmospheres
- planetary scientists
- #exoplanets
- #james webb space telescope
- #lava planets
- #planetary atmospheres
- #super-earths
View larger . | Artist’s concept of super-Earth TOI-561 b. New observations by NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope show again that this distant world has a dense atmosphere. The atmosphere of lava planet TOI-561 b is highly reflective, suggesting clouds or haze. Image via…
Timeline
EarthSky reports new JWST observations showing a dense, highly reflective atmosphere on TOI-561 b
EarthSky
Atmosphere of lava planet: ‘A cloudy, reflective sunscreen’