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New observations of L 98-59d, a member of the five-planet system L 98-59, recommend it harbors a large worldwide lava ocean that traps sulfur deep within, forming a formerly unacknowledged class of extraterrestrial worlds.
An artist’s impression of the planetary system L 98-59. Image credit: Mark A. Garlick/ markgarlick.com.
L 98-59 lies about 34.5 light-years away in the southern constellation of Volans.
Understood as TOI-175, TIC 307210830, this intense M-dwarf is about one-third the mass of the Sun.
The planetary system hosts a minimum of 3 transiting and 2 non-transiting exoplanets: L 98-59b, c, d, e, and f.
L 98-59d orbits the moms and dad star when every 7.5 days, has to do with 1.6 times Earth’s size, and is blasted with around 4 times the glowing energy as Earth.
In brand-new research study, University of Oxford astronomer Harrison Nicholls and associates intended to rebuild the history of this super-Earth from quickly after its birth to today day– a period of almost 5 billion years.
By straight connecting telescope observations to comprehensive physical designs of planetary interiors and environments, they had the ability to identify what should be occurring deep inside the world.
Their outcomes expose that the mantle of L 98-59d is most likely molten silicate (comparable to lava in the world), with a worldwide lava ocean extending countless km underneath.
This huge molten tank permits the world to save very big quantities of sulfur deep inside its interior, over geologic timescales.
The lava ocean likewise assists L 98-59d to keep a thick hydrogen-rich environment including sulfur-bearing gases such as hydrogen sulfide.
Generally, this would be lost to area with time, due to X-ray radiation produced by the host star.
Over billions of years, chemical exchanges in between its molten interior and environment have actually formed what telescopes observe on L 98-59d today.
The scientists recommend that L 98-59d might be the very first acknowledged member of a wider population of gas-rich sulfurous exoplanets sustaining long lived lava oceans. If so, the variety of worlds in our Galaxy might be even higher than formerly pictured.
“This discovery recommends that the classifications astronomers presently utilize to explain little worlds might be too easy,” Dr. Nicholls stated.
“While this molten world is not likely to support life, it shows the broad variety of the worlds which exist beyond the Solar System. We may then ask: what other kinds of world are waiting to be discovered?”
The paper was released today in the journal Nature Astronomy
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H. Nicholls et alVolatile-rich advancement of molten super-Earth L 98-59 d. Nat Astronreleased online March 16, 2026; doi: 10.1038/ s41550-026-02815-8
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