All images: NASA, representative images
A new study has revealed that exoplanet LHS 1140b might be a life-friendly water world, Space.com reported. According to NASA, LHS 1140b is a super Earth exoplanet that orbits an M-type star. The exoplanet is around 50 light-years away from Earth.
LHS 1140b was discovered in 2017. Since then, the exoplanet has been observed by multiple telescopes. Its mass equals 6.38 Earths, and it takes 24.7 days to complete one orbit of its star.
The observations first convinced researchers that LHS 1140b is a rocky planet around 1.7 times wider than Earth. However, a new analysis of all available observations showed that the exoplanet was not dense enough to be purely rocky and must either contain much more water than Earth or have an extensive atmosphere full of light elements.
Scientists cannot yet tell whether LHS 1140b is a rocky planet or a life-friendly water world. The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) might find this answer in the coming years. If the exoplanet is a water world, it will be the number one target in the search for life outside the solar system.