Artist's rendition of 55 Cancri E
 Mail Online:  Huge "waterworld" has boiling oceans hundreds of times deeper than Earth's.
A planet where a year lasts just 18 hours is a waterworld with a radius around twice the size of earth, a team of astronomers has discovered.  55 Cancri E is the innermost in orbit around a sun-like star known as 55 Cancri A that is around 40 light years from Earth.  Now a team from the University of Liege in Belgium have revealed further details about the planet after conducting a new study.  The team led by Michael Gillon observed the planet using both NASA's Spitzer space telescope and Canada's MOST space telescope.  The use of the telescopes is significant as the astronomers could analyze the amount of light the planet blocks from its parent star as it passes.  This allowed them to measure the planet's radius, which determined that it was twice that of earth.  This discovery allowed Gillon and his team to deduce that while the planet is rocky, its size made it too large to be made from rock alone.  The astronomers found that 55 Cancri E must therefore contain volatiles, which are compounds with low boiling points found on the planet's crust.  They include water, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.  The presence of volatiles led the group to investigate two possible outcomes.  The first was that the atmosphere was made with hydrogen and helium, rather like atmospheres of ice giants, such as Jupiter or Saturn.  However, they ruled this out because such an atmosphere would escape into space in just a few million years.  Instead they concluded that an envelope of water, accounting for around 20% of the planet's mass was responsible for its size, making it a waterworld.  By contrast, the water on Earth makes up only 0.023 percent of its mass.  The waterworld on 55 Cancri E would bear little resemblance to that envisioned in the Kevin Costner film released in 1995.  Instead, because of its close proximity to its sun, the water would be a state where liquid and gas phases become one.  The planet may also be tidally locked so that one side is in permanent sunshine, while the other is in permanent darkness.  The parent star of 55 Cancri E, known as 55 Cancri A is visible to the naked eye in the constellation of Cancer.  The star is unusual in that it is just one of a handful that are known to have at least five planets.  The innermost of these planets is 55 Cancri E.  It was discovered in 2004.  

Commentary:  The Bible says, "Beloved, don't be ignorant of this one thing, one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day."  2 Peter 3:8.  This scripture tells us that time does not exist where God is.  That is very difficult for us to perceive, in that our existence here on Earth is so wrapped up in time observance.  This article regarding 55 Cancri E's year only lasting 18 hours brought my mind to this passage in the Word of God.  Of course, we already know that there are other time dimensions in space with regard to speed and distance, but a reminder of these facts should help us to understand more clearly that God dwells in a place in the heavens where time actually does not exist.  Just because we don't understand it, that has no relevance regarding the facts.  We should not forget that the Catholic inquisitors (evil men that they were) burned Giordano Bruno at the stake for saying such a "heretical" thing as the earth revolves around the sun!  Jesus said to John the Revelator, "Behold, I come quickly, blessed is he who keeps the sayings of the prophecy of this book" Revelation 22:7.  Since a thousand years is as a day with the Lord, it has only been about two days since this revelation was given to John.  We can see by the fulfillment of other prophecies, many of which are stated throughout this website, that the Lord's coming is eminent.  Are you ready for His return?  If not, I would like to invite you to the How Can I Be Saved page of this site.  God bless you.