Multiple exoplanets - planets orbiting stars outside our solar system —were discovered orbiting an M-dwarf star, called GJ 357 in the Hydra constellation. The star is 40% cooler than our Sun and only about a third of the Sun’s mass and size.
The first exoplanet discovered around the star was GJ 357 b. The exoplanet is 22% larger and 80% more massive than Earth, making it a super-Earth. It’s 11 times closer to its star than Mercury is to our Sun and the researchers estimate that it has an average temperature of 490 degrees Fahrenheit. This does not account for any potential warming effects of an atmosphere if it has one. It completes one orbit around the star every 3.9 days.
