Hot Topic: A Low Pressure Atmosphere for Lava Planet 55 Cancri e

Lava planets are close-in, rocky worlds which experience disruptive tidal forces and extremely high temperatures. The brightest and most well-studied of these objects is 55 Cancri e, a nearby super-Earth with a remarkable 17-hour orbit. However, despite numerous studies, debate remains about the existence and composition of its atmosphere. We present upper limits on the atmospheric pressure of 55 Cnc e derived from high-resolution time-series spectra taken with Gemini-N/MAROON-X. We compare these results with multiple atmospheric models for this planet and conclude that 55 Cnc e likely retains a thin atmosphere which is replenished by crustal evaporation. Placing constraints on this planet demonstrates the capabilities of ground-based observing in the terrestrial regime and contribute significantly to the understanding of this class of objects.