Scientists find Earth-like planet that could be home to alien life

[Judi Lynn]

Planet is the size of Venus and is likely to have a relatively cool atmosphere

Andrew Griffin
9 hours ago

Scientists have found a new Earth-like planet that could support alien life – just 40 light-years away.

The planet is a remarkable discovery in the search for habitable worlds: it is slightly smaller than the Earth, and thought to be just a little hotter. Many planets outside our solar system, called exoplanets, tend to be much larger and hotter than our own world.

The newly discovered planet is called Gliese 12b and researchers say that even if we cannot find whether it is home to alien life then it will help in our search for other worlds that might be.

The planet planet orbits its host star every 12.8 days, and is comparable in size to Venus - so slightly smaller than Earth.

More:
https://www.independent.co.uk/space/planet-earth-venus-gliese-alien-b2550242.html

[DavidDvorkin]

1. I thought Venus was slightly larger than Earth

When did it shrink?

[CloudWatcher]

2. Not quite, Venus is smaller

[Venus] is nearly as big around as Earth. Its diameter at its equator is about 7,521 miles (12,104 kilometers), versus 7,926 miles (12,756 kilometers) for Earth.

From an excellent write-up of Venus including an amazing interactive globe of its surface:

Venus Facts - NASA Science

[eppur_se_muova]

3. A 12.8 day year ?? That puts it mighty close to its primary ... or a really small primary.

Something about the name Gliese12 rang a bell -- it is a very nearby red dwarf, not visible to the naked eye.

Along with the planets of TRAPPIST-1, Gliese 12 b is one of the nearest known relatively temperate transiting exoplanets, and so is a promising target for the James Webb Space Telescope to determine whether it has retained an atmosphere.[7] Gliese 12 b orbits slightly closer than the inner edge of its star's habitable zone, with an insolation between those of Earth and Venus.[6] Its equilibrium temperature, assuming zero albedo, is 315 K (42 °C; 107 °F); if it has an atmosphere, the surface temperature would be greater than this.[5]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gliese_12

A bit warm, but not completely incompatible with life, particularly with enough water.