--- title: Venus-Like Planet Discovered by Harvard Astronomers description: Gj 1132b is only 39 light-years away canonical: https://time.com/4109450/venus-like-planet-harvard-astronomers/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-12T00:14:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:32:18.461Z article:section: Science og:title: Astronomers Want to Study Newly Discovered Venus-Like Planet og:description: Gj 1132b is only 39 light-years away og:url: https://time.com/4109450/venus-like-planet-harvard-astronomers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcae3a88e278b8083/698870b22dce010b469e6742/harvard-venuslike-planet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5625 og:image:height: 3164 og:image:alt: Gj 1132b og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Astronomers Want to Study Newly Discovered Venus-Like Planet twitter:description: Gj 1132b is only 39 light-years away twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcae3a88e278b8083/698870b22dce010b469e6742/harvard-venuslike-planet.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Astronomers Eager to Study Newly Discovered Venus-like Planet > Sponsored content. 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It reaches 40,000 subscribers with a 34.2% open rate and a 2.1% click rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I follow the energy transition as a business story? Future Proof covers climate and energy as an economic and business story rather than only an environmental one. It publishes every Friday and is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who writes Future Proof? Justin Worland, a senior correspondent at TIME and an award-winning climate journalist, writes Future Proof. #### Is Future Proof free? Yes. Future Proof is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 12, 2015 12:14 AM UTC  In this artist's conception GJ 1132b, a rocky exoplanet very similar to Earth in size and mass, circles a red dwarf star. In this artist's conception GJ 1132b, a rocky exoplanet very similar to Earth in size and mass, circles a red dwarf star. Dana Berry—SkyWorks Digital/Harvard-Smithsonian Center For Astrophyics by [Daniel White](https://time.com/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 12, 2015 12:14 AM UTC Harvard astronomers have discovered a Venus-like planet — and they want to study in detail. At only 39 light-years away the planet, GJ 1132b, is relatively close to Earth and astronomers hope to view it in detail with the Hubble Space Telescope and other observatories, according to the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “Our ultimate goal is to find a twin Earth, but along the way we’ve found a twin Venus,” said astronomer David Charbonneau in a statement. “We suspect it will have a Venus-like atmosphere too, and if it does we can’t wait to get a whiff.” GJ 1132b orbits a star only one-fifth the size of the Sun. The star emits only a fraction of the light the Sun does, but GJ 1132b is closer to it than any planet in our solar system at a distance of 1.4 million miles (Mercury has an orbit of 36 million miles). At that distance the planet sits at an approximate temperature of about 450 degrees Fahrenheit—hot enough to boil any water the planet may have once held, but still cool enough to allow for the possibility of an atmosphere. GJ 1132b is 16 percent larger than Earth, at a diameter of about 9,200 miles. The planet also has an Earth-like force of gravity, Harvard-Smithsonian astronomers say. 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