LHS 1140 b
A rocky super-Earth bathed in red light, holding the keys to life's cosmic prevalence.
Discovered in 2017 by the MEarth-South survey and confirmed via radial velocity measurements by the HARPS spectrograph, it stands as one of the most promising candidates for studying atmospheric composition and potential surface habitability outside our solar system. Its discovery marked a pivotal moment in exoplanetary science, offering astronomers a rare opportunity to use the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and future observatories to search for biosignatures on a rocky world that has remained stable for billions of years.
- Classification
- Super-Earth
- Distance from Earth
- ~48 light-years
- Orbital Period
- ~25 days
- Discovery Method
- Transit and Radial Velocity
- Key Feature
- Prime target for atmospheric characterization
Lore & Background
Unlike the violent flares that often plague planets around such stars, this world seems to have found a stable rhythm. The planet itself is roughly 1.7 times the radius of Earth and seven times its mass, suggesting a dense, rocky composition possibly wrapped in a thick envelope of water vapor or primordial gases. This alignment allows astronomers to analyze the starlight filtering through the planet's atmosphere during these eclipses. It is a cosmic window, offering one of the best chances humanity has ever had to detect chemical imbalances that could indicate biological activity on another world.
In Their Own Story
The telescope hummed, a low vibration against the silence of the Andean night in Chile. It wasn't noise; it was a shadow cast by a world we couldn't see. As spectral analysis began to unfold on the screen, the red glow of the host star seemed to pulse with new meaning. Somewhere out there, forty-eight years ago, a planet made of rock and perhaps water had blocked that light. The atmosphere stretched thin against the vacuum, waiting. We were no longer just looking at a dot in the dark; we were analyzing an atmosphere that might harbor life.
Reader's Guide
This host star is significantly cooler and smaller than our Sun, emitting most of its energy in the infrared spectrum. Because the planet transits its host star from Earth's vantage point, it is visible to transit photometry and spectroscopy. It remains a top priority for current atmospheric characterization efforts, offering a unique chance to probe the composition of an alien atmosphere directly.
Did You Know?
- The planet is likely tidally locked, meaning one hemisphere faces eternal daylight while the other remains in permanent night.
More in exoplanets
Elsewhere in the Cosmos Codex universe
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record