Exoplanet Catalog
55 Cancri e
55 Cancri e, also known as Janssen, orbits a star called Copernicus only 41 light years away. The molten surface is completely uninhabitable, but above the burning horizon, Janssen’s sister planet, Galileo, hangs in a dark sky. Silicates in the atmosphere would condense into clouds on the tidally-locked planet's darkside reflecting the lava below. So, the skies would sparkle.
55 Cancri e is a super-Earth exoplanet that orbits a G-type star similar to our Sun. Its mass is 8.08 Earths, it takes 0.7 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.01544 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2004.
Exoplaneteers: The Friend is exploring 55 Cancri e, a lava world about 41 light-years away from Earth. This exoplanet is so close to its star that scientists believe it’s covered in flowing lava seas. But while the lava across its surface might be daunting, silicates in the planet's atmosphere reflect that lava below, making the sky sparkle.
PLANET TYPE
Super Earth
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DISCOVERY DATE
2004
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MASS
7.99 Earths
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PLANET RADIUS
1.875 x Earth
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ORBITAL RADIUS
0.01544 AU
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ORBITAL PERIOD
0.7 days
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ECCENTRICITY
0.05
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DETECTION METHOD
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