- Light from an alien "super-Earth" twice the size of our own Earth has been detected by a NASA space telescope for the first time, in what astronomers are calling a historic achievement.
- NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope spotted light from the alien planet 55 Cancrie , which orbits a star 41 light-years from Earth. A day on the extrasolar planet lasts just 18 hours.
- Since the discovery of 55 Cancri e, astronomers have pinned down increasingly strange features about the planet. The researchers already knew it was part of an alien solar system containing five exoplanets centered on the star 55 Cancri in the constellation Cancer (The Crab)
- The new Spitzer observations revealed that the star-facing side of 55 Cancri e is extremely hot, with temperatures reaching up to 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit (1,726 degrees Celsius). The planet is likely a dark world that lacks the substantial atmosphere needed to warm its nighttime side, researchers said
- The previous studies of 55 Cancri e were performed by analyzing how the light from its parent star changed as the planet passed in front of it, a technique known as the "transit method." In the new study , astronomers used the Spitzer Space Telescope to determine the infrared light from 55 Cancri e itself.
- Cancrie is 41 light year away from earth
content courtesy:-http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
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