1. Science and space

   55 Cancri e: a year shorter than an Earth day

   It orbits its star in 17.68 hours, less than the 24 hours Earth takes to turn once on its axis.

   Source: NASA Exoplanet Archive · NExScI · Caltech/IPACOpen on the chart →

   More

   A year here is the time for one full orbit around the planet’s star. 55 Cancri e orbits so close that its year is shorter than our day.

   Both bars use Earth hours and start at zero.

   • 55 Cnc e orbital period Earth days

     0.7365474 · 2026-10-05

     NASA Exoplanet Archive

   NASA period in Earth days multiplied by 24.

   Current PSCompPars composite archive, snapshot 2026-10-05: parameters may be measured or derived, and parameters of one planet can use different publications. These values do not establish habitability. Acknowledge NASA Exoplanet Archive/NExScI/Caltech-IPAC under contract with NASA.

   A question for this picture

   How do orbital periods differ between small and large planets?

More findings

• Almost 1,700 Earths in volume. Just 25 in mass.
• AI: 7 million times more training compute in 12 years
• 74% of known exoplanets were found by the dimming of their star
• TRAPPIST-1: seven planets, and the longest year there is 19 Earth days
• China spends as much on research as the US, yet has half as many patents filed in the US, Europe and Japan at once
• The Chelyabinsk fireball was 9 times as energetic as the next largest in NASA’s catalogue

All findings →