What Is TOI-2431 b: The 5.4-Hour Year Planet NASA Found

## The Planet That Shouldn't Exist **TOI-2431 b** completes a year in **5.4 hours**. **NASA's TESS telescope** found it. Astronomers can't explain it. This planet orbits faster than your workday and it's made of rock, not gas. --- --- ## The Impossible Statistics **TOI-2431 b** by the numbers:\*\* - **Orbital period**: **5 hours 22 minutes** - **Surface temperature**: **2,000 Kelvin** (**3,140°F**) - **Mass**: **6.2 Earth masses** - **Density**: **9.4 g/cm³** (**denser than iron**) - **Distance from star**: **0.0063 AU** (**100x closer** than Earth to Sun) > "This planet exists where nothing should survive." > > — **NASA's exoplanet team** **The mystery**: How did it form? Planets can't form this close to stars because it's **too hot, too chaotic**. Yet here it is. --- --- ## A World of Liquid Rock **What happens on TOI-2431 b:** - Rock **vaporizes** into atmosphere - Oceans of **molten lava** cover surface - **Tidal forces** stretch planet **9-10% oval** - One side **permanently faces** the star - **Metal rains** on the night side The discovery challenges everything, like [quantum computing breaking physics laws](/technology/quantum-computing-2025-commercial-breakthrough), and parallels other "impossible" space phenomena like [Parker Solar Probe surviving 430,000 MPH speeds just 3.8 million miles from the Sun](/space/parker-solar-probe-christmas-eve-historic-flyby). --- --- ## Why This Discovery Matters **TOI-2431 b** proves we don't understand planets. **Current theories say** it should have: - **Migrated inward** (no evidence) - **Evaporated completely** (still there) - **Never formed at all** (yet exists) **What we're learning**: Ultra-short period planets are common. **33 confirmed** so far. All breaking formation models. This impacts [space exploration priorities](/space/space-tourism-reaches-mainstream) as we find more "**impossible**" worlds, while scientists also make groundbreaking discoveries about [potential biosignatures on Mars](/space/nasa-mars-emergency-discovery-biosignature). --- --- ## The Death Spiral **TOI-2431 b** is doomed. **Tidal forces** drag it closer every orbit. In **10 million years**, it crashes into its star. We're watching **a planet die in real-time**. **The bigger question**: How many planets like this existed? How many already died? --- --- ## The Bottom Line **TOI-2431 b** exists. **Physics says it shouldn't.** Every **5.4 hours**, this **lava world** completes another impossible orbit. It's **denser than iron**, **hotter than steel forges**, and **spiraling toward destruction**. **If this planet can exist, what else is out there?** --- --- ## Sources 1. [NASA Exoplanet Archive - TOI-2431 b](https://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/) - Official NASA database 2. [Astrophysical Journal - TOI-2431 System](https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/ac0b83) - Peer-reviewed research 3. [TESS Mission - Ultra-Short Period Planets](https://tess.mit.edu/science/ultra-short-period-planets/) - Mission findings 4. [Nature Astronomy - Formation Models](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-021-01544-4) - Theoretical challenges 5. [ESA - Exoplanet Catalog](https://exoplanets.esa.int/exoplanet-catalogue/) - Confirmed USP planets **Last fact-checked: January 13, 2025**