NASA's infrared Spitzer Space Telescope has just spotted light coming out of the alien "super-Earth" exoplanet 55 Cancri e, 41 light-years from our own world.
It's an amazing technical accomplishment, but before you get your hopes up that we've found alien civilization, you should know that the planet is not habitable:
The new Spitzer observations revealed that the star-facing side of 55 Cancri e is extremely hot, with temperatures reaching up to 3,140 degrees Fahrenheit (1,726 degrees Celsius). The planet is likely a dark world that lacks the substantial atmosphere needed to warm its nighttime side, researchers said.
And to top it all off, the planet is oozing.
Past observations of the planet by the Spitzer Space Telescope have suggested that one-fifth of 55 Cancri e is made up of lighter elements, including water. But the extreme temperatures and pressures on 55 Cancri e would create what scientists call a "supercritical fluid" state.
Who's to say there isn't some species out there that could survive on that planet.