TOH edition: Wednesday, 11 November 2026 · science
We Can Read the Skies of Distant Worlds: Webb Finds Signs of Reflective Clouds Above a Lava Planet
Reported by earthsky.org
Publisher date:
New Webb telescope observations support a cloudy or hazy atmosphere around TOI-561 b, a rocky planet roughly 280 light-years away with molten lava covering its dayside. Scientists had expected such a small, intensely heated world to lose its atmosphere, making this evidence a revealing challenge to their understanding of planets.
Humanity can now investigate the skies of rocky worlds hundreds of light-years away—and discover possibilities that existing theories did not predict.
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