A planet with rocky rain

What they found: A study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society uses computer simulations to reveal new details about the previously discovered planet K2-141b, which is host to winds that blow faster than the speed of sound and an ocean of lava.

• The planet — which is about the size of Earth — also has a "rock cycle," in which vaporized rock on the extremely hot day side of the world creates a thin atmosphere over some parts of the planet that condenses and falls down as rain.
• Temperatures on the day side of the tidally locked planet can reach about 5,432°F, with the night side hitting temperatures of -328°F.
• “All rocky planets, including Earth, started off as molten worlds but then rapidly cooled and solidified. Lava planets give us a rare glimpse at this stage of planetary evolution,” Nicolas Cowan, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement.