SETI Institute: A World With Air

For the first time, astronomers have detected an atmosphere around a rocky planet in another star’s habitable zone.

LHS 1140 b is a rocky world about 48 light-years away. By detecting helium escaping from its upper atmosphere, astronomers found strong evidence that the planet has held onto an atmosphere for billions of years.

That doesn’t mean we’ve found another Earth — or life. But it answers a question astronomers have been asking for years: Can a rocky world in the habitable zone of another star actually retain an atmosphere?

Now we know at least one can.

Join us LIVE Thursday, September 24 at 2:30 pm PDT as Franck Marchis – @AllPlanets – talks with lead author Dr. Collin Cherubim about the discovery, how scientists detected an atmosphere from 48 light-years away, and what we might learn about this fascinating world next.