Planet Facts

55 Cancri E

55 Cancri E is a planet that is about twice as big as Earth. It’s also called a super-Earth. It goes around its star very quickly, finishing a year in only 18 hours. Because it is so close to its star, the surface gets extremely hot, over 3,000°F, which is enough to melt rock and make big areas of lava. Scientists think one side of the planet always faces the star, so that side is much hotter, but the other side is still very hot too. Some research shows that the air on 55 Cancri e might have vapor from melted rock and thick clouds made of tiny pieces of rock, so it could even have rock rain. There are also ideas that the inside of the planet has a lot of carbon, maybe even diamond-like material. This makes 55 Cancri e very different from any planet in our solar system.