#shorts #scinews #science news #science #science max #55 Cancri e #super-Earth #atmosphere #secondary eclipse #magma ocean
Good evening, I’m your host Amyerson here with an astronomy update from the Weekend Update desk. There’s a scorching hot exoplanet called 55 Cancri e that’s puzzling scientists. This hell planet is tidally locked to its nearby star with temps over 2000°F – hot enough to melt rock. But strangely, observations show 55 Cancri e sometimes has an atmosphere, and sometimes doesn’t. Now one astronomer thinks he’s cracked the case. He says chambers of gas beneath the molten surface randomly vent, creating a temporary atmosphere that quickly escapes the planet’s gravity. The gases only stick around for one orbit before getting blasted away by solar winds. To test this theory, scientists need to observe 55 Cancri e in both optical and infrared light at the same time. If the atmosphere appears in both, then the venting magma ocean idea is correct. Pretty wild stuff happening on this lava world! Gets me wondering what my hometown New York City would be like if it was tidally locked to the Sun. Probably a lot like the current subway system – scorching hot, filled with gaseous vents. For Weekend Update, I’m Amyerson.
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