JWST Finds Atmosphere on Scorching Exoplanet, Upending Theories

2025-12-12T12:00:06.000Z Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) say they have found the strongest evidence yet for an atmosphere around a rocky world outside our solar system. The findings challenge the prevailing wisdom that relatively small planets orbiting extremely close to their stars cannot sustain atmospheres. The ultra-hot super-Earth, TOI-561 b, is the innermost of at least three planets circling a 10-billion-year-old star located about 280 light-years from Earth.