The alien planet 55 Cancri e circles close to a star 40-light-years from Earth and may ooze with supercritical fluid. See stunning views of what it may look like.

55 Cancri e is a super-Earth — about twice our planet's size — that zooms around its star in 18 days. It has a surface temperature of nearly 4,900 degrees Fahrenheit (2,700 degrees Celsius).

55 Cancri e may be our version of hell, but for astronomers it’s a delight: A place where we can test our skills, our knowledge, and our hypotheses of how planets form and how they behave.

Beyond our solar system, countless alien worlds of lava, ice, water and noxious gas swirl through the cosmos. Here are some of the strangest exoplanets that scientists have discovered so far.

55 Cancri e (an artist’s rendition is pictured up top, situated beside Earth) is an old-school exoplanetary discovery; identified all the way back in 2004, 55 Cancri e belongs to the relatively ...

While 55 Cancri e has been previously identified to potentially possess an atmosphere comprised of volatiles (nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide) using the now-retired NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, ...

Twice as big as Earth, the super-Earth 55 Cancri e was thought to have lava flows on its surface. Now, a new analysis finds this planet likely has an atmosphere whose ingredients could be similar ...

NASA has been studying a planet called 55 Cancri e The planet is sort of Earth-like but much closer to its star. It has temperatures hot enough to melt and vaporize rocks — and possibly oceans ...

Exoplanets — that is, planets we know exist outside of our own Solar System — come in all shapes, sizes, and personalities. Some are super … ...

The exoplanet 55 Cancri e goes by several names, but the rocky world located 40 light-years from Earth is most known for its reputation as a “hell planet.” The world zips around its star every ...