This artist’s concept shows what the ultra-hot super-Earth exoplanet TOI-561 b could look like based on observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other observatories. Webb data suggests that the planet is surrounded by a thick atmosphere above a global magma ocean.
TOI-561 b is the innermost of four planets orbiting TOI-561, a 10-billion-year-old G-type star located roughly 280 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Sextans.
Classified as an ultra-short period (USP) planet, TOI-561 b orbits just 0.01 AU from its star (1% the distance between Earth and the Sun, or about one million miles), completing one circuit in less than 11 hours.
Although the star is somewhat smaller and cooler than the Sun, the planet orbits so close that its dayside surface temperature must far exceed the melting temperature of typical rock. (Planets that orbit this close to their stars are thought to be tidally locked, with a permanent dayside that faces the star at all times, and a permanent nightside in eternal darkness.) If the planet has a thick atmosphere with winds distributing heat evenly around the planet, the nightside surface will likely also be molten.
This illustration is based on spectroscopic data and other indirect observations. Webb has not captured any images of TOI-561 b.
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