Earth and 55 Cancri. Computer illustration comparing Earth (left) with the strange planet known as 55 Cancri (right). This planet is about twice the size of Earth and revolves around its sun-like star in the shortest time period of all known exoplanets,just 17 hours 40 minutes. It also orbits closer to its star than Mercury,meaning that its surface has a minimum temperature of 1760 degrees Celsius. New observations with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have revealed 55 Cancri to have a mass 7.8 tmes that of the Earth,making it a super-Earth,however it has a remarkably low density given its size. The Spitzer results suggest about a fifth of its mass must be made of light elements and compounds,including water | |
Licence : | Droits gérés |
Crédit: | Science Photo Library / R. Hurt (SSC) / JPL-Caltech / NASA |
Taille de l’image : | 4000 px × 2400 px |
Model Release : | Non requis |
Property Release : | Non requis |
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