New worlds are breaking every planetary rule.
When the James Webb Space Telescope began returning atmospheric data, scientists expected refinements to familiar planet categories. Instead, the observations unraveled assumptions built over decades. Worlds appeared where they should not exist, with temperatures, chemistry, and structures that defy prediction. As results accumulated from systems light years away, researchers realized the problem was not a single anomaly. The problem was the models themselves. JWST did not reveal rare outliers. It revealed a universe that builds planets far more creatively than theory ever allowed.
