Exoplanet GJ 1132 b

This animation is an artist's impression of the rocky, Earth-sized exoplanet GJ 1132 b. Scientists using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have found evidence this planet, which orbits a distant star, may have lost its original atmosphere but gained a second one through volcanic activity. Visible is the planet's smoggy, hazy atmosphere, which astronomers think contains a toxic mix of hydrogen, methane and hydrogen cyanide. The crust, which may be only a few hundred feet thick, is mottled, covered in cracks and volcanic fissures. The rocky surface is ablaze with ongoing volcanism from the planet's interior. Gases seeping through volcanic fissures seem to be constantly replenishing the atmosphere, which should otherwise be stripped away by strong radiation from the planet's nearby red dwarf star. Hubble detected the "fingerprints" of these gases in the star's light as that light filtered through the exoplanet's atmosphere. This data, combined with atmospheric modeling, allowed astronomers to hypothesize how this planet might look. It is too faint and far away to be photographed by Hubble.