It's in the habitable zone! It has an atmosphere! Astronomers are nearly jumping for joy!
This might be the closest humanity has come to discovering a habitable planet—an absolutely milestone-breaking discovery.
As reported by U.S. Space News on July 16 local time.
The rocky planet named LHS 1140 b is located 48 light-years from Earth. According to the latest research, it possesses an atmosphere containing helium.
This is the first rocky planet ever directly detected with an atmosphere.
It is also the first rocky planet discovered within the habitable zone—meaning its distance from its host star is just right for potentially allowing liquid water to exist on its surface.
"We’ve actually directly detected helium in the atmosphere—this is the first direct detection of helium in any terrestrial exoplanet, which is truly exciting... And it’s also located within the habitable zone, which is an added bonus for astrobiology, habitability, and the search for life," said lead author Colin Chin. "It feels almost surreal."
"This planet was discovered about 10 years ago, and only now are we saying, okay, it has an atmosphere."
"If it has some atmosphere capable of providing a certain greenhouse effect—which we now know it does—then it’s highly likely to have the conditions we associate with Earth-like habitability."
Is it like Earth? While it certainly isn’t a perfect copy of our planet, this world can be considered a terrestrial planet in two key aspects.
First: its overall composition. This planet is a rocky world, likely with an iron core, and (as we now know) it has an atmosphere.
Second: its temperature is just right for liquid water to exist—a condition critical for life, based on what we know about Earth.
"This discovery is significant because it shows that at least this rocky planet has retained its atmosphere for billions of years—a truly convincing and powerful indication that rocky exoplanets can indeed possess atmospheres."
When observing a planet with a rocky surface, an atmosphere, and located in the habitable zone (implying the potential for liquid water), questions about life quickly arise.
However, researchers currently don’t have enough data to make such a speculation.
As the first of its kind, further exploration will help us piece together the full truth.
But this is undoubtedly a major step forward in humanity’s eternal quest to answer: “Are we alone?”
American internet users are also thrilled. Erasmus F. said: "Point your antennas toward this planet, send out a 'Hello,' then hold your breath and wait—maybe you’ll get a reply in about 96 years."
It’s truly exhilarating! If we could boost our propulsion technology to 1 million miles per hour, it would take only 32,000 years to reach there—so let’s get started!
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1870911493526540/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.