This exoplanet may have an ocean half the size of Atlantic. Is it hosting life?

The discovery of a tantalising exoplanet has been made by a team of researchers using the James Webb Space Telescope outside the solar system.

What makes this exoplanet special is the possibility of it hosting a temperate water ocean, which is nearly half the size of the Atlantic Ocean.

Scientists have been searching for habitability acrosstheuniverse and even the slightest chance of water hints at the existence of extraterrestrial life.

The search for cosmic water trails has continued for ages and the possibility of liquid water and not just ice or water vapour increases the chances of the existence of life forms.

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The exoplanet, which has been dubbed LHS 1140 b, orbits a red dwarf star which is nearly a fifth the size of the sun and is present 48 light-years away from Earth. It is situated in the constellation Cetus which translates to "the whale."

"Of all currently known temperate exoplanets, LHS 1140 b could well be our best bet to one day indirectly confirm liquid water on the surface of an alien world beyond our solar system," said Charles Cadieux, who is the lead author of a paper on the discovery and a doctoral student at the Université de Montréal,in a statement.

"This would be a major milestone in the search for potentially habitable exoplanets," he added.

Exoplanet in 'Goldilocks zone'. Is it habitable?

The exoplanet LHS 1140 b is present in the star's habitable zone which is called its "Goldilocks zone."

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The Goldilocks zone refers to the area around a star which is neither too hot nor too cold making it possible for the world to host liquid water.

"This is the first time we have ever seen a hint of an atmosphere on ahabitable zonerocky or ice-rich exoplanet," said Ryan MacDonald, aNASASagan Fellow in the University of Michigan's Department of Astronomy, who helped in analysing the atmosphere of LHS 1140 b, in the statement.

According to Macdonald, the team may also have discovered evidence of "air" on it.

(With inputs from agencies)