Gliese 12 b – exoplanet sized between Earth and Venus

Exoplanet Gliese 12 b: Astronomers have discovered an exoplanet between the sizes of Earth and Venus only 40 light-years away. Gliese 12 b has a radius that is only 4% smaller than Earth’s radius, and is less than 3.9 times the mass of Earth. The exoplanet receives 1.6 times more radiation from its host star than Earth receives from the Sun. If it has no atmosphere, astronomers estimate an average surface temperature at around 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit). Earth has an average surface temperature of 15°C (59°F). If it has an atmosphere, Gliese 12 b could maintain surface temperatures suitable for liquid water and possibly life. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC) Gliese 12 b, a temperate Earth-sized planet at 12 parsecs discovered with TESS and CHEOPS Shishir Dholakia, Larissa Palethorpe, Alexander Venner, Annelies Mortier, Thomas G Wilson, Chelsea X Huang, Ken Rice, Vincent Van Eylen, Emma Nabbie, Ryan Cloutier, Walter Boschin, David Ciardi, Laetitia Delrez, Georgina Dransfield, Elsa Ducrot, Zahra Essack, Mark E Everett, Michaël Gillon, Matthew J Hooton, Michelle Kunimoto, David W Latham, Mercedes López-Morales, Bin Li, Fan Li, Scott McDermott, Simon J Murphy, Catriona A Murray, Sara Seager, Mathilde Timmermans, Amaury Triaud, Daisy A Turner, Joseph D Twicken, Andrew Vanderburg, Su Wang, Robert A Wittenmyer, Duncan Wright Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 531, Issue 1, June 2024, Pages 1276–1293, DOI: Music: “No.1 A Minor Waltz by Esther Abrami” courtesy of YouTube Audio Library