Artist’s impression of L 98-59c

This artist’s animation shows L 98-59c, the second planet in the L 98-59 planetary system, which is 35 light-years away from Earth. The system contains four confirmed rocky planets with a potential fifth furthest from the star.

Using the Echelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanets and Stable Spectroscopic Observations (ESPRESSO) instrument on ESO’s VLT, astronomers have discovered that L 98-59c is probably dry but may contain small amounts of water in its interior or atmosphere.