A team of American scientists led by Collin Cherubim confirmed the presence of an atmosphere on the planet LHS 1140 b, which is located 48 light years from Earth and, relative to its star, is located in the so-called habitable zone. As Cherubim told Space.com, the discovery is “extremely exciting” for the branch of science involved in the search for extraterrestrial life and the conditions for it.
There are no concrete signs that anyone is currently living on the rocky planet, which was originally discovered in 2017, but astronomers have recorded it releasing helium gas into space. Similar emissions sometimes occur in the earth's atmosphere.
LHS 1140 b's situation is unique among the more than 6,000 exoplanets that have been discovered over the past 30 years. The results of the study were published in the scientific journal Science.
“We actually directly observed helium in its atmosphere, which is the first such direct observation for any rocky exoplanet,” Cherubim noted.
Astronomer Jason Dittman, who initially participated in the discovery of LHS 1140 b and co-authored the new study, emphasized that soon there will not be a single point on which the planet does not meet the criteria for suitability for life.
“We're gradually closing all the gaps and checking the boxes: we found a rocky planet, it has the right temperature, and now it turns out it has an atmosphere,” Dittman told Space.com.
Scientists have not yet been able to prove that there is water on LHS 1140 b, but they do not rule it out. The planet is located in the constellation Cetus and orbits a red dwarf – a star cooler and smaller than the Sun, which allows us to count on the fact that water is in the liquid state necessary for life.
