The celestial body 55 Cancri E gained fame as “the diamond planet,” but astronomers have recently discovered an even more unusual quirk—the planet can spontaneously change its temperature by as much as 300 percent. That’s an unprecedented feat for a rocky exoplanet.
The finicky 55 E is the innermost planet in its family of five and lives quite tumultuously.
It’s so tightly squeezed in that it completes its orbit in a speedy 18 hours. It’s also tidally locked, with one face permanently turned toward its star. And since temperatures can range from 1,000–2,700 degrees Celsius (1,800–4,800 °F), astronomers now say the planet may be covered in oozing volcanoes.
That would explain its odd thermal behavior but sadly eliminated the possibility of a giant diamond, because it appears we’ve overestimated its carbon content.
The volcano hypothesis is supported by evidence in our own solar system: Jovian satellite Io is similarly close to its parent, and tidal forces ripping at the moon’s body have turned it into a giant volcano.
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