An Earth-Sized Neighbor May Be the Most Important Exoplanet Yet

Astronomers have discovered a jolting , Earth - sized planet 39 light eld from home — decently in our cosmic backyard . With a Earth’s surface temperature of 440 degrees Fahrenheit , GJ 1132b is more of an intergalactic furnace than a vacation candidate . Yet someare hailing it“the most important major planet ever base outside our solar system . ”

That ’s because GJ 1132b , which orbit the dim M - dwarf maven Gliese 1132 , lie close enough to Earth that new scope will shortly let us to peer into its atmosphere . What we ascertain from doing so could pave a itinerary towardfinding a second Earth .

“ This is our best opportunity to study the atmosphere of a rocky satellite outside of our solar system , ” lead work author Zach Berta - Thomson , a C. W. Post - doc at MIT ’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research , told Gizmodo . “ By meditate this much hotter variation of Earth , I opine we ’ll learn quite a spot about what make up a cooler planet around an M - dwarf habitable . ”

Over the past decade , NASA ’s Kepler mission has uncovered grand of worlds beyond our solar system , by spotting the faint dip in starlight do planetary transits . But all of the stars Kepler ’s eyes are trained on Trygve Lie hundreds to G of unclouded years by — not exactly easy spot for us to get up closelipped and personal with .

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This vivification usher the aloofness to cognize transiting exoplanet system in lightyears . GJ 1132b is much closer than most other transiting satellite . The proximity and diminished size of its legion star will allow astronomers to spectroscopically study its atmosphere . Credit : Zach Berta - Thompson

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We know much , much less about the planets in our contiguous stellar neighborhood . GJ 1132b is one of a select handful that ’s both nearby and Earth - sized ; Berta - Thomspon calls it the “ slosest ” ( smallest airless ) exoplanet yet . ( Anotherrecently discovered planetis even nigher to us , but passably larger . ) The planet ’s transportation was first spotted by the MEarth - South Observatory , an array of 40 cm wide robotic telescopes designed to analyse dim , M - dwarf stars . Other John Scopes were used to confirm the find .

Given the planet ’s wheel spoke ( 16 % larger than Earth ’s ) , its orbital space , and its free weight of 1.2 Earth masses ( inferred from the gravitative “ wobble ” of its genius ) , the squad was capable to work out GJ 1132b ’s tightness . At 6 grams per three-dimensional centimeter , GJ 1132b is a perfect mates to Earth , telling us it ’s probably a rocky earthly concern with a similar composition . Although GJ 1132b is too raging for life as we recognise it , the satellite may be cool enough to retain an standard atmosphere .

And that fact places GJ 1132b on a shortlist of target for the James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ) , the successor to Hubble that ’s slated to launch in 2018 . “ Any eccentric of atmosphere is interesting for us to understand how atmospheres employment , ” Cornell exoplanet research worker Lisa Kaltenegger told Gizmodo . “ This one is not in the inhabitable zone , but it will be interesting to understand how blistering planet work too . ”

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toon showing GJ 1132b to scale against its superstar . Image Credit : Zach Berta - Thompson

If and when we check JWST on the rocky , solid ground - comparable Earth that sits in its star ’s Goldilocks zone , we ’ll want to dig into its air for thing like oxygen and methane — so - call “ biosignatures ” that could indicate the mien of sprightliness . We ’ll do so by looking at the spectral signature of starlight as it filters through the major planet ’s air . We can cerebrate of GJ 1132b as a grooming world , one that can assist us perfect our methods and cypher out exactly what we ’re count for .

But what if it grow out that GJ 1132b does n’t have an atmosphere ? That ’s also going to be a vital penetration for alien - hunters , Berta - Thompson say .

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Based on Kepler ’s cosmic nose count , we eff that rough , Earth - sized planets are very common around M - dwarf star . But it ’s still unclear whether an Earth - same world revolve an M - dwarf could prevail onto an atmosphere long enough for lifetime to acquire .

“ As these [ M - dwarf ] stars are young , they ’re a lot adult and much more participating , ” Berta - Thompson said . “ They shoot off ultraviolet light light and particle tempest that bomb the planet , and could , in some case , erode the atmosphere . If a young M - gnome can erode the air of a inhabitable planet , that same star will emphatically wear away the atmosphere of a planet closer in . ”

So if GJ 1132b has had its atmosphere flayed off by an unsupportive star ( our own Sundid something similar to Mars ) , it could have wholesale implications for the breakthrough of inhabitable worlds around M - dwarfs in worldwide .

Photo: Jae C. Hong

We simply wo n’t have it off until we get a better looking at at GJ 1132b , and that may not be for another few years . In the meantime , Berta - Thompson and his colleagues are using the Spitzer Space Telescope to scour the same star system for satellite in more distant orbits . Maybe there will turn out to be an intact family of rough satellite sitting out there , a cosmic record hop - skip away , just waiting to have their atmospheres poke into by our telescope .

“ [ This find ] really gives us an chance to not only imagine what major planet around other stars are like , but to have the hope of honor them flat , ” Berta - Thompson suppose . “ To learn what in our imagination comes truthful and what does n’t . ”

[ Read thefull scientific paperat Nature ]

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