Gliese 12 b tagged posts

Intriguing Nearby World Sized between Earth, Venus

Space scene of a thin atmosphere version of Gliese 12 b
Gliese 12 b, which orbits a cool red dwarf star located just 40 light-years away, promises to tell astronomers more about how planets close to their stars retain or lose their atmospheres. In this artist’s concept, Gliese 12 b is shown retaining a thin atmosphere.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (Caltech-IPAC)

Using observations by NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) and many other facilities, two international teams of astronomers have discovered a planet between the sizes of Earth and Venus only 40 light-years away. Multiple factors make it a candidate well-suited for further study using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope.

TESS stares at a large swath of the sky for about a month at a time, tracking the brightness changes of tens of thousands of stars at intervals ranging...

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