Scientists from the North American Space Agency (NASA) are already planning to use the James Webb telescope to in order to explore a planet similar to Earth, however, with a very important difference: it is possible that it rains there lava. Continue reading and follow what is already known about the subject so far.
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Cancri 55 – The Earth-like Planet
christening of 55 Cancri, this exoplanet (term used to classify planets outside the Solar System) orbits around a star that is 40 light years away. In other words, it's so close that you can see it with the naked eye in the sky, making up the constellation Cancer.
Popularization of Cancri 55
Although a tweet commenting on its characteristics has gone viral on social networks not long ago, the discovery of the planet is not recent, as astrophysicists have known of its existence since 2004. However, the news is that NASA will use the
James Webb Telescope to be able to study it more closely.lava showers
55 Cancri is only 2.4 million km away from its star, which, in turn, is also similar to our sun. That way, over there, a year ends in 18 hours.
Furthermore, being so close to its star, the heat is extreme to the point that, although it is a rocky planet, any known mineral on its surface would exceed the melting point. For this reason, scientists believe in the idea that it is covered by oceans of lava.
What will be studied at Cancri 55
Brandeker's team intends to use the James Webb's NIRCam (a camera on board the telescope) with the objective of measuring the temperature of the illuminated side of this exoplanet in four orbits many different.
If it is like Mercury, which revolves around its own axis through slow cycles of day and night, each hemisphere will be observed twice. From this, scientists will be able to identify the differences in temperature between the hemispheres.
Scientists believe that studying this planet can help to better understand our own planet, as they will bring important perspectives on Earth-like planets and this can contribute to the understanding of what the early Earth was like.
