Venus-Like Exoplanet May Provide First Oxygen Discovery Outside Solar System

A distant planet that orbits a star 39 light years away from Earth could mark the first discovery of oxygen beyond the solar system when the next generation of space telescopes comes on line, a team of scientists from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) said in a press release on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – If any oxygen does still cling to the planet, named GJ 1132b, next-generation telescopes like the Giant Magellan Telescope and James Webb Space Telescope may be able to detect and analyze it, the release surmised.

"This planet might be the first time we detect oxygen on a rocky planet outside the solar system," Harvard Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Professor Robin Wordsworth said in the release.

With temperatures of 450 degrees Fahrenheit, the planet is too hot to sustain life, but it could help explain the lack of oxygen on Earth’s closest planetary neighbor, Venus, the release noted.

Study of the planet could also provide insights into other exoplanets that lie in a habitable zone, where temperatures are cool enough to prevent oxygen from escaping the atmosphere, the release explained.