Nearby Venus-like planet will give scientists an opportunity to study rocky exoplanets in detail

Of all the hundreds of exoplanets that have been discovered over the past several years, perhaps none will be more important to the overall study of exoplanet chemistry and formation than the recently discovered Venus-like planet orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 1132, just 39 light years away.

The planet, called GJ 1132b, is slightly larger than Earth, but since it’s much closer to its star, the surface temperature is way too hot for life and for liquid water, but is still cool enough that it likely has an atmosphere. And since it’s so close compared to most of the other confirmed exoplanet systems, it means scientists will be able to study this new planet in a lot more detail– down to being able to map its wind patterns and determine what its sunset looks like.

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