The exoplanet mentioned in this article is called LHS 1140b, and it orbits a small, dim red dwarf star called LHS 1140 (about one-fifth the size of the Sun) in the constellation Cetus. The exoplanet was actually discovered in 2017 and has been observed with multiple telescopes since then.
These observations convinced researchers for the first time that LHS 1140b is a rocky planet about 1.43 times larger than Earth, with a diameter of 18,221 km (11,221 miles), compared to Earth's diameter of 12,742 km (7,842 miles). The planet has a mass about 6.6 times that of Earth and is probably made of rock with a dense iron core.
Water-rich exoplanets have the potential to support life. (Photo: earth.com)
“LHS 1140b has a simple structure consisting of a dense iron core surrounded by a magnesium silicate mantle,” said Dr. Jason Dittmann, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. “We conclude that LHS 1140b is a rocky planet without a significant gas envelope.”
But a new analysis of all available observations shows that LHS 1140b is not dense enough to be composed entirely of rock, but must contain more water than Earth, or possess a large atmosphere filled with light elements such as hydrogen and helium.
For now, researchers don’t know which of these two views is correct, but the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could find out in the coming years. And if LHS 1140b is indeed a water-rich world , it would make it an incredibly important target in the search for life beyond our solar system.
“This is a really exciting scenario for habitability in outer space,” Charles Cadieux, an astronomer and researcher at the University of Montreal and lead author of the new study, told Space.com.
Since the first exoplanet was discovered in 1992, astronomers have since confirmed more than 5,500 exoplanets orbiting stars in the Milky Way. However, of the known exoplanets, only a handful are potentially habitable, Cadieux added.
HUYNH DUNG (Source: Space/Sci.news)
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