Revising an Iron-Rich Planet

Astronomical evidence

GJ 367 b is a sub-Earth with an orbital period of roughly 7.7 hours. A 2026 analysis reports a mass of 0.503 ± 0.078 Earth masses and a radius of 0.736 ± 0.035 Earth radii. Combining those quantities yields a bulk density of 6.9 (+1.6/−1.4) g/cm³. Density does not directly measure the chemical composition of the interior. The interpretation must account for material properties and the distribution of rock and metal. The revised analysis also considers observational effects and tidal distortion when connecting the measured signal to the planet’s physical size. The study’s interior models allow an iron-rich planet without requiring the older near-pure-iron interpretation. This is a useful distinction between measurements and a model-based composition inference: revised inputs can change the inferred interior even though the planet itself has not changed.

The illustrated viewpoint

The dark ridges, grazing light and protected viewpoint are invented. Neither the bulk density nor the short orbital period establishes this terrain, a breathable atmosphere or the image’s exact stellar position.

The dark ridges, grazing light and protected viewpoint are invented. Neither the bulk density nor the short orbital period establishes this terrain, a breathable atmosphere or the image’s exact stellar position. All depicted life and technology are fictional.

Catalog measurements & sources

Host: GJ 367. Snapshot: 25 September 2026. Errors, limits and source provenance are retained. Calculated values and model estimates are not direct measurements. Unknown is not zero; equilibrium temperature is not surface temperature.

References

• NASA Exoplanet Archive · GJ 367 b · composite snapshot, 25 September 2026
• Lee et al. 2026 · revised density and interior models
• Lee et al. 2026
• Lam et al. 2021
• Goffo et al. 2023
• TICv8