Will NASA find ‘hell’ with the James Webb Space Telescope?

Planet 55 Cancri e is less than 2.4 million km from its parent star – Photo: NASA

Through data from the Spitzer space telescope of the US Space and Space Agency (NASA), the planet 55 Cancri e was discovered on August 30, 2004.

This is an exceptionally hot planet outside our solar system. The planet 55 Cancri e is a binary star system, it orbits the star 55 Cancri A.

The data shows that the planet 55 Cancri e is less than 2.4 million kilometers from its parent star, NASA said.

55 Cancri e has a surface temperature of nearly 2,700⁰ C. The planet is twice the size of Earth and 50 light-years from Earth.

By page Miami Heraldastronomers hope in just a few weeks the very powerful and modern James Webb Space Telescope will give humanity the first glimpse of this hot “super-Earth” in action.

“With a surface temperature much higher than the melting point of typical rock-forming minerals, the planet is covered by oceans of lava,” NASA said.

NASA says no planet like 55 Cancri e exists in our solar system.

Initial views from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope suggest something mysterious is happening on 55 Cancri e. Because the hottest spot is not the part directly opposite its parent star.

One theory is that the planet has “a dynamic atmosphere that moves heat around”. Another idea is that 55 Cancri e rotates to create day and night, but the result is only night.

“In this case, the surface would heat up, melt, and even evaporate during the day, forming a very thin atmosphere that the James Webb Space Telescope could detect.” NASA said.