LHS 1140b: Potentially Habitable Super-Earth Found Orbiting Nearby Red Dwarf

W E A R E G E T T I N G T H E R E!

Astronomers have discovered a ‘super-Earth’ exoplanet in the habitable zone of LHS 1140, a small, cool star in the constellation of Cetus, approximately 39 light-years away from Earth. The discovery is being published in the April 20, 2017 issue of the journal Nature.

I know, the distance blablabla, but hey, we can send nanobots that travel in very fast speed and our descendants might get a response. It's a long-term discovery.

“This is the most exciting exoplanet I’ve seen in the past decade,” said Dr. Jason Dittmann, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and lead author of the Nature paper.

The newfound world, named LHS 1140b, is about 1.43 times larger than the Earth. It has a diameter of 11,322 miles (18,221 km), compared to the Earth’s diameter of 7,918 miles (12,742 km).

The planet is about 6.6 times as massive as the Earth and is probably made of rock with a dense iron core.

“A simple structural mode consisting of a dense iron core surrounded by a magnesium silicate mantle can explain the observed mass and diameter,” Dr. Dittmann and his colleagues explained.

“We conclude that LHS 1140b is a rocky planet without a substantial gas envelope.”

Each new day a new discovery, are we closer than ever to find life outside the Earth?

What do you think, ATS?


Link for the full article

Well first I laughed hysterically because I read this as 140lb potentially habitable super earth found! And was trying to come to terms with such a small weight for a planet.

Dyslexia or w/e that was aside-

Cool discovery. These are my favorite kinds of science explorations.

-Alee

a reply to: vinifalou

What do they mean when they say "without a substantial gas envelope"? Does that mean a lack of atmosphere or just not as thick of an atmosphere as say venus?

I guess "nearby' is a relative term!!

'approximately 39 light-years away from Earth.'

My 7-11 is nearby, that is fricking far away!!

But my ship is capable of light speed plus, so who's down for a road trip!! Cassettes only, my CD player doesn't work!

a reply to: XxitsTtimexX

The former in all likelihood. If it had, or they thought it had anything even remotely reasonable, they'd likely have said so.

This stuff is utterly fascinating to me. Oooh, and aaah, are common utterances, along with wow, when I read this sort of stuff.

39 light years? how are we going to get past the vanhalen belt (lol) let alone attain light speed. i cant see that happening in the next 100 years, the aliens built that barrier around earth to keep us here.

it sucks, first we gotta figure out how to fly in space. then we gotta make a space ship with a force field. then we gotta learn how to somehow go faster than anything around except for light?

what year was star trek set in, like 400 years in the future? if the internati0nalists do not kill everyone, then maybe around then.

a reply to: WUNK22

Very cool. I'm in. The only Lightspeed+ vehicle I own still has an 8-Track player.

I thought red dwarf stars are not very ideal for planets since they tend to be unpredictable? Didn't we learn this in the last few 'discoveries'? Why are we not focusing on stars like our own instead? Seems it would be more likely there than around an unpredictable red dwarf, right?

a reply to: dantanna

It's not so much the knowledge to fly in space...it's the collective will to do so.

We've proven, by going to the moon, and LEO, that Man can, indeed, fly in space. We've had the tech/knowledge to do so since I was a boy.

Now it's merely (merely?) a matter of harnessing the courage/the will to step into that abyss, and discover that hey, it floats and flies.

Not unlike those first sailors who discovered that you can, indeed, sail out of sight of land, and don't need to haul out every night.

I can only fathom of the day that we receive true confirmation of not only a habitable planet, let alone extraterrestrial life.

oh the wonderssss

a reply to: XxitsTtimexX

It means its a rocky planet just like ours

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Well first I laughed hysterically because I read this as 140lb potentially habitable super earth found! And was trying to come to terms with such a small weight for a plane

-Alee

Interesting that you bring up weight since the planet is 6.6 times as massive as earth I imagine it would not be habitable for humans due to increased gravity I don't know the calculations for what we would weigh on this planet would be I just know we would weigh much more then we do on earth.
That's not to say that there is not life there that has adapted to those conditions but I don't think it would be very enjoyable for us.

If there is intelligent life on that planet, we would seem puny and weak to them if they came to visit us. Being accustomed to a much heavier gravitational pull, they could leap around like Superman.

"Nearby." Heh. That means the fastest machine we ever built, the Pluto probe, would only take 817,000 years to get there! It's just around the corner!

originally posted by: WUNK22
I guess "nearby' is a relative term!!

'approximately 39 light-years away from Earth.'

My 7-11 is nearby, that is fricking far away!!

But my ship is capable of light speed plus, so who's down for a road trip!! Cassettes only, my CD player doesn't work!

I'm in! I just can't take the wheel before we leave this galaxy, been pulled over once too often by the spacecops. lemme pack a couple of Tubes-O-Pringles, latest copy of BigUns, some rizla's, Elvin Bishop, Eagles & Aerosmith tapes and my SpaceMiles card! U Think I need to pack some sunblock?

a reply to: 2Faced

No need to. I'll bring the sunblock (factor 4.000).

I'm at -15.809116 -48.069559. You'll find me by my Star Trek umbrella.

a reply to: XxitsTtimexX

They are speaking in terms of the planet itslf, not the atmosphere. In the very near future we will be able to study potential atmospheres of these exoplanets, right now that is pretty much guesswork. Then the real fun begins.

This particular star has a great trajectory to Earth, making it a prime spot to study. A research team was granted permission to point the Hubble telescope that way. Should yield some great research and some details on atmosphere. Red dwarf stars are much dimmer than most so that helps researchers see the system better. More to come on this solar system, not just the star and planet!

originally posted by: WUNK22
I guess "nearby' is a relative term!!

'approximately 39 light-years away from Earth.'

My 7-11 is nearby, that is fricking far away!!

But my ship is capable of light speed plus, so who's down for a road trip!! Cassettes only, my CD player doesn't work!

Speed of light is 600 million mph, so the distance is that number x 24 hours x 365 days x 39 years.

For that amount of time, I think you would want a spaceship with it's own Cineplex, popcorn and soft drinks factory. Just think of all the movies you would have time to watch as well as all the merchandise you would end up buying

originally posted by: SolAquarius

originally posted by: NerdGoddess
Well first I laughed hysterically because I read this as 140lb potentially habitable super earth found! And was trying to come to terms with such a small weight for a plane

-Alee

Interesting that you bring up weight since the planet is 6.6 times as massive as earth I imagine it would not be habitable for humans due to increased gravity I don't know the calculations for what we would weigh on this planet would be I just know we would weigh much more then we do on earth.
That's not to say that there is not life there that has adapted to those conditions but I don't think it would be very enjoyable for us.

So, assuming you've seen DBZ or something similar, if we could survive, would it perhaps be possible to "train" there to be stronger or do you think its more likely that our bodies would shut down or collapse?

Just bouncing around some thoughts.

-Alee