Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

A rocky, oven-hot Earth-sized spotted orbiting a small nearby star just over a year ago is one of the best chances we have of finding alien life outside our solar system.

The planet, named GJ1132b, is around 1.2 times the size of Earth and appears to be predominantly composed of rock and iron.

Now scientists have taken the closest look yet at GJ1132b, confirming the presence of its thick atmosphere and finding hints the planet could be rich in water.

Scientists have taken the closest look yet at the planet GJ1132b (artist's impression pictured). The researchers confirmed the presence of its thick atmosphere and found hints the planet could be rich in water

Researchers led by Dr John Southworth from Keele University studied the planet's atmosphere using a variation on the 'transit' planet-detection method.

As the planet crosses its star, it blocks a small portion of the star’s total light and casts a planetary shadow toward our solar system.

GJ1132b causes the light from its star to dip by 0.3 per cent every 1.6 days.

The researchers said the spectrum observed in the planet suggests 'initial signs of a water-rich world'.

Using the MPG/ESO 7 foot (2.2 metre) telescope at the European Southern Observatory in Chile, the team monitored nine transits of GJ 1132 b across a range of wavelengths.

"We have shown that an Earth-mass planet is capable of sustaining a thick atmosphere" Dr Southworth told Scientific American.

The results have been published on the pre-print server arXiv, and are currently under review for publication in The Astrophysical Journal.

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