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Researchers discover Earth-like planet with atmosphere 48 light-years away
(www.newschannel5.com)
this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2026
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Very cool discovery. But just to temper any overly excited reactions...
Also LHS 1140 b is tidally locked to its red dwarf Star, which means one side of it is constantly facing the star and the other side is always saving away from the star. So the ~~fat~~ far side will be very, very cold. While the doesn't rule out the possibilities of life or a breathable atmosphere, it does complicate all that.
Reminds me of an excerpt from Kurt Vonnegut's The Sirens Of Titan: https://www.flickr.com/photos/romasita/2766136797
True, but up till now we didn't even know if a tidally locked planet around a red dwarf could even hold an atmosphere (since red dwarfs tend to have much more powerful x-ray flares, and planets sit much closer to them than our G-type sun). So the fact that this one does have lightweight Helium in the atmosphere would seem to significantly increase the odds that there's life elsewhere, since red dwarfs are super common and if there's 1 that can hold an atmosphere, odds are that there are many, many others.
Well, that's why it has all that blubber! To keep it warm.
Damnit autocorrect!
But your reply genuinely made me chuckle.
But a habitable ring around the twilight portion sounds very cool and world build-y.
Aren't there issues with constant and unsurvivable wind as atmosphere is heated on the sunward side and cold atmo from the leeward rushes in underneath?
It'd be an interesting environment. What if the atmosphere was thin so the winds were fast, but not strong? Lots of variables to consider, and I'm sure if life could start, it'd find a niche to live in.
It's not unsurvivable if the organisms there have evolved to survive it.