Artistic illustration of the internal structure of a lava planet in a cold state, showing a day‑side magma ocean overlain by a mineral atmosphere. The arrows indicate the direction of heat transport ...

What can lava planets, rocky exoplanets that are tidally locked and orbit so close to their stars that the intense heat melts the surface, teach astronomers about planetary formation and evolution?

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Lava planets don’t play by the rules of our solar system. These scorching-hot worlds, some no bigger than Earth, orbit so close to their stars that a full year lasts less than a day. With their ...

New research suggests a rocky “lava planet” orbiting very close to its star likely carries an atmosphere. Astronomers found an atmosphere where they least expected it—clinging to an exoplanet that’s ...

In a remarkable feat of astronomical discovery, scientists have identified a new exoplanet similar in size to Earth, but with one notable difference: it is covered in vast, glowing lava oceans. This ...