Why is this a Lava World?A moon inside the synchronous orbit spiraled in and struck the planet. The impact remelted the surface into a global magma ocean.
Tidal decay drags close-in moons down over millions of years. A large enough impactor liquefies the crust, strips atmosphere, and resets the surface - whatever the orbit's temperature would otherwise allow.
Classification Criteria:
✓ Moon inside the synchronous orbit (tidal decay)✓ Impactor massive enough to remelt the crust- Orbit itself was fine: 2.64 AU, 1400K equilibrium
Habitability
Destroyed — no longer habitable
Physical Properties
Mass
0.90x Earth (5.37e+24 kg)
Radius
0.97x Earth (6,151 km)
Surface Gravity
0.97x Earth (9.5 m/s²)
Surface Temperature
1,400 K (1,127 °C / 2,060 °F)
Rotation Period
2,000.0 hours/day (slower than Earth)
Orbital Environment
Star Type
K-type (Orange)
Distance from Star
2.64 AU (395 million km)
Orbital Period
5.13 years
Atmosphere
Vaporized rock and impact ash - the original atmosphere blown off by the strike
Elemental Composition
Si - Silicon
33.3%
O - Oxygen
20.0%
Fe - Iron
20.0%
Surface Characteristics
Surface remelted by a catastrophic moon impact - a global magma ocean cooling into scarred rock