Researchers from the CNRS and the University of Montreal have examined this planet, located outside the solar system, using the James Webb space telescope.
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Discovered in 2017, LHS1140b is 48 light years away from us and quickly presented an exciting potential for those looking for the “Holy Grail” in the Universe: the presence of water, favorable to the development of a form of extraterrestrial life.
By precisely measuring its low density, scientists from the CNRS and the University of Montreal have put forward two hypotheses: either the presence of a thick envelope of hydrogen and helium, or that of a significant quantity of water on its surface. How to decide? This is where the new James Webb space telescope comes in.
Pointed to LHS1140b last December, it allowed the first choice to be eliminated. It is therefore the presence of water that is the most plausible version, and in much greater quantity than on Earth. Better still: this exoplanet meets the criterion of distance from its star, an essential element for temperature and pressure to be acceptable. This water is therefore probably partly in liquid form, that is to say an ocean on or under the surface.
Obviously impossible to go and check on site but new observations, this time, of the composition of its atmosphere should allow us to refine things. Note that this “super-Earth” type planet (1.7 times larger than Earth and 5.6 times more massive) is located in the constellation of Cetus. Perhaps a predestined name…
