Now, I am from Phoenix, Arizona and it gets pretty hot over there. Which is why I think this is the “coolest” exoplanet. 55 Cancri E. Take a look at this beauty.
Artist representation of 55 Cancri E
This is a planet I can get down with. It looks exactly like Mustafar from Star Wars. This planet is extremely hot, reaching up to temperatures of about 3500 degrees Celsius on the daytime side and about 1400 degrees Celsius on the nighttime side. 55 Cancri E is twice the diameter and eight times the mass of Earth. This planet is super close to its star at 0.01544 AU away. This is partially what makes it so hot on this planet. And because it is so close, it also orbits around its star very quickly. It completes one full orbit in 0.7 Earth days, which is about 17 hours. So a year on 55 Cancri E is not even a DAY on Earth! It is tidally locked with another planet in its system so it is constantly getting cooked on one side because it never spins. The entire surface is covered in volcanoes and seas of lava. The planet also has a very unique atmosphere. There are silicates (salts) in the atmosphere and when clouds are formed, the light from the lava is reflected off the silicates causing the sky to sparkle. This planet is awesome and if my body wouldn’t burn up into a crisp the second I got there, I would totally live here.
Andres' Astronomy Adventures 
2 responses to “The Not so Coolest Exoplanet”
Before this I had never heard of 55 Cancri E! But I think that it is fascinating that it orbits the star in 0.7 Earth days which means it is flying. I also think that it is crazy that unlike Mercury which is freezing on the far side, you would still get burnt to a crisp on the far side of 55 Centauri.
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Andres, I love the Star Wars reference! Although I don’t know how much I would want to visit this planet. It’s so cool that the planet doesn’t rotate at all due to tidal locking.
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