Scientists have found the first planet with its core exposed.

The discovery represents the first time that researchers have been able to look into the inside of a planet, potentially offering an unprecedented understanding of how such worlds are formed.

The core is roughly the size of Neptune, and is thought to be a gas giant like our other neighbours Jupiter and Saturn. But it appears to have either been stripped of its gaseous atmosphere, or failed to form one.

Instead, researchers can see the core that would normally be found inside such an exoplanet. That allows them to look inside the interior of the world and learn about its composition.

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The newly discovered planet orbits a star similar to our Sun, and is found about 730 light years away. It is known as TOI 849 b, and conditions there are intense: it is so close to its star that a year takes 18 hours, and the surface temperature is around 1,500C.

That places the planet right in the Neptunian Desert, the region near stars where planets the size of Neptune are rarely found.

Read more: Independent