The Hell Planet Where a Year Lasts 18 Hours 55: Cancri e
What would a world look like if a year lasted only 17 hours and 41 minutes?
Meet 55 Cancri e, a scorching super-Earth orbiting incredibly close to its star, 55 Cancri A, roughly 41 light-years from Earth. Its dayside reaches temperatures above 4,400°F, hot enough for some metals to evaporate, while its permanently dark nightside remains around 2,400°F. 🌌
For years, 55 Cancri e became famous for a remarkable possibility: a diamond-rich interior buried beneath its surface. But better observations changed that picture. As the James Webb Space Telescope studied this extreme planet, scientists…
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