Gliese 12 b: A Promising Earth-to-Venus-Sized Exoplanet

When scientists found the first exoplanets over 30 years ago, the discovery defied all expectations. In the following decades, with the advent of NASA's Kepler and TESS missions and numerous ground-based observatories, the exoplanet count has risen to nearly 6,000 confirmed worlds and some 7,200 candidates. Press releases on newly confirmed planets tend to be about exciting or strange places, and this week's SETI Live is no exception. Discovered in TESS data, Gliese 12 b is a recently confirmed exoplanet the size of Earth or Venus, orbiting a red dwarf star every thirteen days and "only" about 40 light-years away from our solar system. This close-in, rocky world could potentially be studied using the JWST for more precise information on its size and atmospheric composition (if there is an atmosphere). Two separate teams of researchers confirmed the planet, and today, senior planetary astronomer Franck Marchis is joined by the two lead authors from one of those teams - Shishir Dholakia, a doctoral student at the Centre for Astrophysics at the University of Southern Queensland in Australia, and Larissa Palethorpe, a doctoral student at the University of Edinburgh. Join Franck, Shishir, and Larissa in what promises to be an interesting conversation about Gliese 12 b's discovery, confirmation, and potential for understanding planetary formation and evolution. (Recorded 27 June 2024.)