Sarah Schlieder
It's A First â An Earth-Sized Exoplanet With An Atmosphere
The Earth-sized exoplanet GJ 1132b has an atmosphere and is relatively close at 39 light years away.
LEARN MOREPosted: 2:10 p.m. EDT May 11, 2017
Astronomers have discovered a cloudy, watery atmosphere on an exoplanet that's 437 light years away.
More than 3,000 exoplanets have been discovered to date, but it can be tough to learn about their atmospheres. They're orbiting stars that are light years away, and sometimes they're so close to those stars that it's too bright to see details.
And different exoplanets can gain atmospheres in different ways. Some gather hydrogen and helium while they form. Some get layers of complex organic molecules. And some, like this Neptune-sized planet we just found, show clear signs of water in their atmospheres, which probably gathered some time after it formed.
Water vapor isn't especially rare on exoplanets. Gas giants can have a lot of it. In 2014, a team found some on an exoplanet 124 light years away.
The researchers say this new finding will help them understand how exoplanets get their variety of atmospheres and offer clues as to how they form.
