Venus’ Rocky Exoplanet Twin Discovered Near Dim Home Star; Key to Finding Other Habitable Planets?

The possible twin of Venus, which is considered as "arguably the most important planet ever found outside the Solar System" was reported to have been discovered. The newfound planet was then named as GJ 1132b after the nearby star where it orbits.

According to Deccan Chronicle, a study led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology had found out that GJ 1132b to have a temperature that was too hot for life to be generated. But, the planet was also said to be cooler than the others. The exoplanet was then said to be only 39 light years away from Earth, so the possibility to study it via telescopes happened.

Nonetheless, it was mentioned by the team’s study published in journal Nature that GJ 1132b circles every 1.6 days from its home star, a red dwarf Gliese 1132. Its home star was then identified to be one-fifth the size of the sun. Thus, resulted in the planet’s heating temperature. Regarding the size of the exoplanet, it was stated to have a diameter of about 9,200 miles and a mass 60 percent greater than Earth's.

On another note, Venus was considered as Earth’s twin due to circumstances. Yet, more contrary facts remove the claim to be Earth’s twin aside from its similarity in size. The temperature, distance from the Sun and its atmosphere were then described to be far different from the habited planet Earth.

Nonetheless, in a previous report from PopSci stated that GJ 1132b could aid scientists and astronomers on finding other habited planets. The newfound world was then said to might have atmosphere by Jonathan Fortney of the University of Southern California. "They might lack atmospheres entirely, or have atmospheres made of vaporized rock,” Fortney stated. ” [GJ 1132b] could be an important bridge in understanding how rocky planet atmospheres differ depending on planet temperature," he explained.

GJ 1132b study's lead author Zachory Berta-Thompson then mentioned that this is the first time that scientists on Earth had studied a rocky exoplanet. Yet, as scientists’ goal is to find a twin Earth, they found a twin Venus instead.