Astronomers have detected helium escaping from LHS 1140 b, a rocky super-Earth orbiting within the habitable zone of a small red star about 48 light-years away. The signal is the first clear evidence of an atmosphere around a rocky planet in the habitable zone of another star. The finding, reported on 16 July in Science [...] The post For years astronomers kept finding rocky planets in habitable zones and then discovering they were bare, airless cinders. LHS 1140b, announced Thursday in the journal Science, is the first one that isn’t: it has an atmosphere, a surface temperature that allows liquid water, and a quiet enough star to keep both appeared first on Space Daily .
For years astronomers kept finding rocky planets in habitable zones and then discovering they were bare, airless cinders. LHS 1140b, announced Thursday in the journal Science, is the first one that isn’t: it has an atmosphere, a surface temperature that allows liquid water, and a quiet enough star to keep both
