Rocky planet neighbor looks familiar, but is not Earth's twin

Last autumn, the world was excited by the discovery of an exoplanet called Ross 128 b, which is just 11 light years away from Earth. New work from a team led by Diogo Souto of Brazil's Observatório Nacional and including Carnegie's Johanna Teske has for the first time determined detailed chemical abundances of the planet's host star, Ross 128.

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Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser.

This artist’s impression shows the temperate planet Ross 128 b, with its red dwarf parent star in the background.

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Only 11 light-years from Earth, lies Ross 128 - a red dwarf star. Ross 128 is orbited by an Earth-sized planet called Ross 128b, with an expected surface temperature close to that of the Earth.

Ross 128 b is the closest planet orbiting an inactive red dwarf star, which may increase the likelihood that this planet could potentially sustain life.