Discovery of a Unique Planet 335 Light-Years from Earth

A team of scientists has identified a unique exoplanet outside our solar system, composed of 50% water by mass, yet orbiting dangerously close to its host star. Despite harsh conditions, this planet retains a dynamic atmosphere that stellar radiation has failed to strip away, challenging prevailing astronomical theories.

The planet, named HD 176071 b, is located 335 light-years from Earth. It is 2.5 times larger than our planet and has a mass 8.5 times that of Earth, according to a recent study published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, as reported by the news website RT.

These findings led scientists to conclude that approximately half of the planet’s mass consists of water. Remarkably, the planet orbits at a distance of no more than 1.5 million miles from its star (equivalent to just 1.6% of the distance between Earth and the Sun). This extreme proximity results in a year lasting only 14 hours.

Scientists classify this planet within a rare region known as the “Neptune desert,” an area where space is nearly devoid of Neptune-sized planets orbiting close to their stars, as intense radiation is expected to strip away their gaseous envelopes. However, HD 176071 b defies this expectation, possessing an unexpected and dynamic atmosphere that remains intact despite the severe radiation.

Notably, this planet does not transit between its star and Earth—the usual method for detecting exoplanets—making it nearly invisible to astronomical observations. However, researchers led by Sylvain Breton of the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics devised a clever approach: they detected minute variations in the starlight reflected off the planet’s surface during its orbit, relying on the fact that the planet is tidally locked, meaning it has a permanent dayside and a permanent nightside.