Earth-like world could be 'most important planet found outside solar system'

[senona]

A rocky Earth-sized planet that circles a small, nearby star could be the most important world ever found beyond the solar system, astronomers say.

The planet lies in the constellation of Vela in the southern sky and is close enough for telescopes to observe any atmosphere it has, a procedure that could help spot life on other planets in the future.

Named GJ 1132b, the alien world is about 16% larger than Earth, and at 39 light years distant, is three times closer than any other Earth-sized rocky planet yet found around another star. At that distance, it is hoped that telescopes will be able to make out the chemistry of its atmosphere, the speed of its winds and the colours of its sunsets.

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The planet is tidally locked to its star, much as the moon is to Earth, and has one face in permanent daylight, the other in darkness. Given the world’s size and mass, researchers suspect it is rocky, like the inner planets of our solar system. It orbits 1.4m miles from its star, far closer than Mercury, which is never less than 36m miles from the sun.

According to the article, Astronomers spotted the planet as it moved across the face of a red dwarf star only a fifth the size of the sun. Though much cooler and fainter than the sun, GJ 1132b orbits so close to its star that surface temperatures reach 260C. 


One  astronomer  said the planet was “arguably the most important planet ever found outside the solar system”. 
Its proximity and orbit around a red dwarf will allow astronomers to study the planet with unprecedented fidelity.

“It’s nearby, it’s Earth-like, and its star won’t interfere,” Drake said.



Will be anxious to see what they do discover about it over time
 

The searing temperatures are too hot for the surface to retain liquid water, making it inhospitable to life, but not so hot as to burn off any atmosphere that formed on the planet.

Although it might be Earth-like, certainty not habitable with those hot temps

(VIDEO) The MEarth-South telescope array, located on Cerro Tololo in Chile, searches for planets by monitoring the brightness of nearby, small stars. This time-lapse movie shows MEarth-South discovering the planet GJ 1132b; one telescope identified a dip in brightness of the star GJ1132 and immediately confirmed it with high-cadence observations.
Credit: Jonathan Irwin

(VIDEO) This animation shows the distances to known transiting exoplanet systems, in units of lightyears (ly; the distance light travels in one year). GJ 1132b is much closer than most other transiting planets. The proximity and small size of its host star will allow astronomers to spectroscopically study the atmosphere of GJ 1132b.
Credit: Zach Berta-Thompson