A molten, mushy state': scientists may have found a new type of liquid planet

"The whole thing really is in a mushy, molten state, said Dr Harrison Nicholls, an astrophysicist at the University of Oxford. It's like molasses. It's likely that this planet's core would also be molten. Surface temperatures would reach a blazing 1,900C (3,500F), large waves are likely to roll over the magma ocean caused by the tidal forces of neighbouring planets, and there would be a pervasive stench of rotten egg thanks to an atmosphere rich in hydrogen sulphide."

"Previously, such observations revealed that L98-59d has a sulphur-rich atmosphere that appeared at odds with it being either a rocky or water world the two conventional categories that a planet of its size would typically fall into. Neither would be capable of maintaining a sulphur atmosphere for the nearly 5bn years the planet has been in existence."

L98-59d, located 35 light years away, is approximately 1.6 times Earth's size and orbits a red star. Initially thought to potentially harbor liquid water, recent analysis reveals it is fundamentally different from known planets. The entire planet exists in a molten, mushy state with surface temperatures reaching 1,900°C. Large magma waves roll across the surface due to tidal forces from neighboring planets. The atmosphere is rich in hydrogen sulfide, creating conditions unsuitable for life as understood. The James Webb Space Telescope detected a sulphur-rich atmosphere incompatible with rocky or water worlds, establishing L98-59d as a new planetary category that has maintained its composition for nearly 5 billion years.

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