It’s 2158, and you’re chugging away on your PhD in Planetary Volcanology from the University of Utopia Planitia on Mars. Graduate students still get paid a sub-living wage, so you’ve been stuck eating freeze-dried ramen for the past three years. You’ve completed studying Jupiter’s moon, Io, but now you have to leave the solar system for a good exoplanet analog. While Io’s volcanism is caused by tidal heating, you need an exoplanet whose volcanism is caused by extreme heat from its host star. You recently secured funding from the Exoplanet Research Institute for a faster-than-light (FTL) ship, but the exoplanet is required to be less than 50 light-years away.

Back in the present day, scientists have used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to observe 55 Cancri e (55 Cnc e), which is designated as a super Earth with a radius and mass of about 1.88 and 8 Earths, respectively. It is located approximately 41 light-years away and is tidally locked to a Sun-like star, completing one orbit in about 0.7 days. It is this extremely close orbit that researchers hypothesize cause the exoplanet’s surface to melt. For context, Mercury orbits our Sun in 88 days. Their findings were recently submitted for publication in Nature Astronomy and could help scientists better understand the formation and evolution of lava exoplanets.

Using JWST, the researchers observed five eclipses of 55 Cnc e and compared it to longstanding models of exoplanet formation and evolution. These models have inferred that lava planets have high abundances of carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). In the end, the researchers concluded that 55 Cnc e’s atmosphere is likely comprised of large amounts of CO and small amounts of C02 while also having large amounts of hydrogen. Additionally, the researchers noted that mixed data among the five eclipses could be indicative of outgassing or clouds forming from the outgassing. They note how the clouds could temporarily cool the surface until outgassing pushes the clouds away.

The study notes, “Since secondary atmospheres of rocky planets are set by the composition of the interior and subsequent outgassing, the composition of their atmospheres is directly linked to their interior redox states. The preference for hydrogen-rich models, together with the steep inversions they produce, therefore suggests an interior with relatively low oxygen fugacity, consistent with outgassing from a reduced magma ocean.”

For context, a planet’s redox state is the chemical balance between oxygen and hydrogen/iron within its interior. In the context of 55 Cnc e, hydrogen is heavily favored compared to oxygen, resulting in the exoplanet’s hydrogen-rich atmosphere.

Artist’s illustration of lava exoplanet CoRoT-7 b. (Credit: ESO/L. Calçada)

Lava exoplanets have come into the spotlight in recent years, as several have been discovered within the last decade, with 55 Cnc e being discovered in 2004. These exoplanets include K2-141 b, L 98-59 d, TOI-561 b, HD 63433 d, and CoRoT-7 b, which have orbital periods of about 6.7 hours, 7.5 days, 10.5 hours, 4.2 days, and 20.4 hours, respectively. Like 55 Cnc e, all these exoplanets are tidally locked to their host stars and experience extreme temperatures. While 55 Cnc e has its lava on the sun-facing side, exoplanets like L 98-59 d have its entire surface covered in a magma ocean like Jupiter’s moon Io.

As noted in the fictionalized tale above, the volcanism on Jupiter’s moon Io is caused by tidal heating, which occurs from the small moon being stretched and compressed by Jupiter’s immense gravity. In contrast, all lava exoplanets listed above, including 55 Cnc e, are the result of the extreme temperatures they endure while orbiting at extremely close distances to their host stars. While Io has volcanism all over its surface, some lava exoplanets have their lava surfaces on the sun-facing side due to them being tidally locked.

What new insights into 55 Cnc e and other lava exoplanets will researchers make in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!

As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!

The U.S. Air Force at Edwards Air Force Base was in the process of tests to upgrade the aging fleet of B-52 bombers with new engines and radar systems when one of the planes crashed Monday, killing eight people, officials said.

The tests, and planned upgrades for the bomber, are just the latest in what has been long history for the plane that has undergone more than half a dozen transformations and has remained in the U.S. arsenal for more than 70 years.

The B-52 is considered a legendary workhorse, remaining a key part of the military’s fleet for decades thanks to constant improvements to the planes.

It’s still unclear what caused the deadly crash at Edwards Air Force Base just after 11 a.m., sending a huge plume of smoke from the base. In a press conference, Col. James Hayes said the B-52 that crashed was supporting a “radar modernization program.”

Edwards Air Force Base officials confirmed the plane crashed shortly after take-off of a “routine test mission.” They declined to identify the victims until the next of kin had been notified.

The airfield remained closed Tuesday after a night of crews fighting small start-up fires in the area.

Air Force officials announced in May and December that B-52s would be undergoing testing at Edwards Air Force Base as the Department of Defense looked to upgrade the plane’s engines and radar.

Efforts to upgrade and create a new version of the iconic B-52 bomber have been ongoing for decades, making it a constant presence in the country’s armed conflicts from the Vietnam War to the Gulf and Iraq wars.

“Some of these airplanes are literally twice the age of the pilots who fly them,” said Ross Aimer, a retired United Airlines pilot and CEO of Aero Consulting Experts. But, he added, “if you take care of an airplane, you can fly them forever, basically.”

In December, Air Force officials announced a B-52 Stratofortress was ferried from Boeing’s San Antonio facility to Edwards Air Force Base after it was equipped with a new radar system. The aircraft, according to the statement, was set to undergo a series of tests throughout 2026.

The Air Force has not said whether that was the B-52 that crashed.

In May, the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center announced that Boeing was moving to modify two B-52H aircraft in its San Antonio facility. The plan was to replace the planes’ 1960s-era TF33 engines with F130 Rolls-Royce engines — and test them at Edwards Air Force Base.

Pentagon officials referred questions to the U.S. Air Force. U.S. Air Force officials and officials at Edwards Air Force Base did not immediately respond to inquiries Tuesday.

As of November 2025, the Air Force’s fleet of B-52s were assigned to the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota, the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana and the Air Force Reserve Command’s 307th Bomb Wing also at Barksdale, according to the Air Force.

But some of the Air Force’s B-52 fleet was taken to Edwards Air Force Base for testing.

Military officials have not released details of those who were onboard during the crash but, in a statement, Boeing confirmed two of its employees were among crew.

As it happens, test teams are sometimes accompanied by contractors, so they can ask questions about the technology, said Brian Sinclair, a retired Navy test pilot who graduated from the Air Force’s Test Pilot School and now runs consulting firm 3WIRE Solutions.

“Edwards, for the Air Force, is the heart of developmental testing,” he said.

When Sinclair flew F-18s in Iraq, he said he would often see B-52s flying over him.

“They just have an incredible payload capacity,” Sinclair said. “They can drop large amounts of ordnance and they can also carry said ordnance very far.”

The first B-52, known as the B-52A, first flew in 1954 but, for more than 70 years, the heavy bomber has undergone a series of modifications and improvements.

It has a range of 8,000 miles but, because it can refuel in the air, the craft can stay in flight for much longer. According to the U.S. Air Force, it also has a payload capacity of 70,000 pounds.

As of November, a total of 58 B-52Hs are in the military’s active force, with another 18 in reserve, according to the U.S. Air Force.

“Even though the airframe from the original concept is quite old, the Air Force has stayed up with modifications,” said J. F. Joseph, a retired airline pilot and U.S. Marine Corps colonel who oversees Joseph Aviation Consulting.

Aimer said the plane’s longevity is evidence of its importance to the Air Force: “It worked from Day One for the mission that it was designed for and it does a fantastic job,” he said. “It carries so much ordnance, so many bombs that we never could replace it.”

Still, other aviation experts said the continual efforts to modify the B-52 suggests more robust and consistent military funding is needed.

“We’re asking airmen to strap into jets that their grandfathers, fathers and now they are flying, and it is time for a reset,” said Doug Birkey, executive director of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.

Described by the U.S. Air Force as the “backbone of the manned strategic bomber force for the United States,” the B-52 Stratofortress has been a vital aircraft for the country’s armed conflicts.

According to the Air Force, B-52 Stratofortresses delivered 40% of all the weapons dropped by coalition forces during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. It was also used to hit wide-area troop concentrations and bunkers.

Two B-52H’s were also used to hit Baghdad’s power stations and communications facilities in 1996 during Operation Desert Strike, using air-launched cruise missiles. That mission, according to the Air Force, was the longest distance flown for a combat mission at the time, with the planes making a 16,000-mile round trip from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana for the 34-hour flight.

The B-52 was brought back again for Operation Enduring Freedom in 2001, providing close air support as it hovered above the battlefield, according to the U.S. Air Force.

During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, it launched about 100 missiles during a single night mission.

Officials said Monday’s crash took place immediately upon takeoff.

Such low-altitude emergencies are particularly dangerous because planes are typically heavy with fuel and crews have little time to react given how close they are to the ground and how slow they are moving, Aimer said.

“It’s probably the worst time for any major failure to happen, for them to control it,” Aimer said.

The deadly crash marked what aviation experts told The Times was an otherwise robust safety record for the seasoned plane. Before Monday, the most recent incident involving a B-52 occurred in Guam in 2016, after the aircraft overran the runway and crashed. In 2008, another B-52 crashed off the coast of Guam, killing six.

In 1982, a B-52 also crashed outside of Sacramento Mather Air Force Base, killing nine people onboard.