Scientists are trying to learn how the atmospheric temperature at an exoplanet some 40 light years away fluctuates severely in short periods of time.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the temperature on this planet, dubbed 55 Cancri E, was observed to have changed from 1,800 to 4,900 degrees Fahrenheit in a matter of a couple years. 55 Cancri E also qualifies as a "Super-Earth" for being at least twice the size of our planet and for having a rocky surface.

But unlike Earth the exoplanet orbits its star with one side always facing outward, meaning its two halves are literally day and night. The researchers' study was published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

"This is the first time we've seen such drastic changes in light emitted from an exoplanet, which is particularly remarkable for a super Earth," study co-author Nikku Madhusudhan, of Cambridge University's Institute of Astronomy, said in a press release. "No signature of thermal emissions or surface activity has ever been detected for any other super Earth to date."

Orbiting its host star once every 18 days - by Earth's standards - 55 Cancri E likely has oceans of molten lava and extreme volcanic activity in addition to its severe temperature volatility.

"We saw a 300 percent change in the signal coming from this planet, which is the first time we've seen such a huge level of variability in an exoplanet," study lead author Brice-Olivier Demory, of the University's Cavendish Laboratory, said in the release. "While we can't be entirely sure, we think a likely explanation for this variability is large-scale surface activity, possibly volcanism, on the surface is spewing out massive volumes of gas and dust, which sometimes blanket the thermal emission from the planet so it is not seen from Earth."