The James Webb Space Telescope will soon be operating and observing the solar system. One of the objects turned out to be a hell-like 'super-Earth' planet.
The planet named 55 Cancri e has a very close distance to its sun-like star. The data shows the distance between 55 Cancri e and its star is 1/25 of the distance between Mercury and our sun.
Because of its very close distance, NASA calls this planet a kind of hell because of its constantly smoldering surface.
"With surface temperatures well above the melting points of ordinary rock-forming minerals, the daytime side of the planet is thought to be covered in a sea of lava," NASA said.
"Imagine if Earth were much closer to the sun. So close that a year lasts only a few hours. So close that gravity permanently locks one hemisphere of the Earth in searing daylight and the other in endless darkness. So close that oceans boil, rock melted, and the clouds rained lava."
NASA says planets like this are not found in our solar system. Using the James Webb telescope, NASA wanted to find out whether the planet's position is locked so that one side faces its star at all times, or rotates to create day and night.
Preliminary observations using NASA's Spitzer space telescope actually show mysterious things happening on planet 55 Cancri e, because its hottest part is not facing its star directly.
One theory that has emerged is that this planet has a dynamic atmosphere that can transfer heat. Another theory speculates that the 55 Cancri e could rotate to create day and night but in a dire scenario.
"In this scenario, the surface would heat up, melt, and even evaporate during the day, forming a very thin atmosphere that Webb could detect," NASA said.
"At night, the vapor will cool and condense to form lava droplets that will rain and fall back to the surface, becoming solid again as night falls," he added.
The James Webb telescope is expected to be operational in the next few weeks and its first observations will take place throughout the summer. In its first year, the $10 billion telescope will observe the airless planet 55 Cancri e and LHS 3844 b.