NASA says the planet’s surface “may be covered in oceans of lava”, where far-world surface temperatures are “well above the melting point of typical rock-forming minerals”.
It is expected that NASA scientists will gain better knowledge about a distant world whose landscape may resemble the hell mentioned in the celestial books.
The planet in question is 55 Cancri E, which is located about 50 light-years from Earth, and orbits a Sun-like star at a distance of less than 2.5 million km, which is one-twenty-fifth of the distance between Mercury and the Sun.
The planet’s surface temperature is thought to be “well above the melting point of typical rock-forming minerals”, so “the daytime side of 55 Cancree E is covered by oceans of lava,” NASA reported last week.
And the description of the planet provided by the space agency says: “Imagine if the Earth was so much closer to the sun, so close that an entire year lasts only a few hours, so close that gravity closed one hemisphere in scorching daylight and the other in endless darkness, So close that oceans are boiling, rocks starting to melt, and lava raining down clouds.”
NASA has also indicated that the planet may have a day and night cycle, and thus could have a thin atmosphere that forms as the surface warms, melts and evaporates during the day.
The space agency also suggests that “in the evening, the vapor will cool and condense to form lava droplets that will rain back to the surface, turning back to solid by nightfall.”
It is noteworthy that 55 Cancri E has been selected as one of the first investigation targets for NASA’s new James Webb Space Telescope, which is expected to become fully operational this month.
Source: Sputnik International