
TOI 561: A 10-Billion-Year-Old, Metal-Poor Planetary System
About this episode
Meet TOI 561, a 10-billion-year-old orange dwarf in the Milky Way's thick disk—the galaxy's ancient backbone. This metal-poor star hosts at least four planets, including TOI 561b, a scorching super-Earth with an 11-hour orbit whose composition is debated: rocky with little iron or a water-rich body shrouded in a dense steam atmosphere. The discovery challenges ideas about planet formation in the early universe and hints that migration could move icy worlds inward over billions of years. A story of time, metal scarcity, and planetary diversity across our galaxy.
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