Astronomers, using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, have completed a precision temperature map of 55 Cancri e, an exoplanet located approximately 40 light-years from Earth, and the data reveals one side of the world is constantly facing the star it orbits, causing extreme temperature differences across hemispheres, according to discovery.com.
The scientists found the world is so near to its parent star, it only takes 18 hours to complete one orbit, and that has the planet “tidally locked,” in that one hemisphere is always facing the star, and the other is in perpetual darkness.
This effect means the star-facing side of 55 Cancri e, located in the constellation Cancer, has temperatures reaching 4,500 degrees Fahrenheit, while the back side measures at a mere 2,000 degrees, still quite hot, but an extreme temperature shift. The result is the hotter side is covered with molten lava, flowing like rivers and oceans, and the back side is solid.
Brice-Olivier Demory of the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory and lead author of the study, said, “We haven’t yet found any other planet that is this small and orbits so close to its parent star, and is relatively close to us, so 55 Cancri e offers lots of possibilities. We still don’t know exactly what this planet is made of — it’s still a riddle. These results are like adding another brick to the wall, but the exact nature of this planet is still not completely understood.”
Demory adds it appears the atmosphere on the star-facing side may have evaporated completely due to the intense heat, but the researchers think there could still be some left on the dark side. Heat from the star side is not being efficiently transferred, or possibly not at all transferred, to the night side.
Still, the researchers don’t believe all the heat noted on the light side of 55 Cancri e is due just to always facing the star. The researchers believe there is extra heat being generated, although at this point, they don’t know from where. More research will need to be completed, and the scientists hope NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope can be used to take a closer look at this new world.
Findings from the study were published in the journal Nature.