Size comparison between Earth and the exoplanet GJ1214b. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC)
A nearby exoplanet has an atmosphere that might be similar to Earth’s before life evolved. Scientists have catalogued nearly 2,000 exoplanets around stars near and far. While most of these are giant and inhospitable, improved techniques and spacecraft have uncovered increasingly smaller worlds.
But size alone is insufficient to judge a globe. Though Earth and Venus are nearly identical in size, the latter’s surface is hot enough to melt lead. Astronomers must gather information about an exoplanet’s atmosphere, often through observing how the planet scatters or absorbs light from its parent star. But, that information is not always useful – as is the case with the exoplanet GJ1214b.
“When an exop...
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