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Humanity’s first glimpse into the conditions of a “super-Earth” 50 light-years away is expected in the coming weeks through the James Webb Space Telescope, and NASA is preparing to see the things of nightmares.
The planet, called 55 Cancri e, orbits so close to “its Sun-like star” that surface conditions could be literally like the hell of biblical description: a dimension in a constant state of burning.
The data show that 55 Cancer e is less than 1.5 million miles from its star, 1/25 of the distance that Mercury is super hot from our sun, says NASA.
“With surface temperatures well above the melting point of typical rock-forming minerals, the diurnal side of the planet is believed to be covered in lava oceans,” NASA reported last week.
“Imagine if the Earth were much, much closer to the Sun. So close that a whole year only lasts a few hours. So close that gravity has closed one hemisphere in daylight and the other in an infinite darkness. So close that the oceans boil. far away, the rocks begin to melt and the clouds rain lava. “
There is nothing like our solar system, says NASA.
Among the things scientists hope to discover is whether the planet is “blocked by the tide, with one side facing the star at all times” or whether it rotates in a way that would create day and night.
Initial views of NASA’s less powerful Spitzer Space Telescope show that something mysterious is happening at 55 Cancri e, because the hottest spot is not the part directly facing its star.
One theory is that the planet has “a dynamic atmosphere that moves heat,” says NASA.
Another idea is that 55 Cancri e rota to create day and night, but with nightmare results.
“In this scenario, the surface would heat up, melt, and even vaporize during the day, forming a very fine atmosphere that Webb could detect,” says NASA.
“In the evening, the steam would cool and condense to form drops of lava that would rain on the surface again, becoming solid again as night fell.”
The James Webb Space Telescope is expected to be fully operational in “a few weeks” and its first observations are expected during the summer, NASA says.
The telescope is able to detect the presence of an atmosphere, scientists say.
His first year will be devoted to studying 55 Cancer and the airless planet LHS 3844 b, to try to understand “the evolution of rocky planets like Earth,” says NASA.
Astronomers to train James Webb telescope high-precision spectrographs on two intriguing rocky exoplanets
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