Rocky exoplanet LHS 1140b found to have an atmosphere, raising hopes it could host life

Scientists have discovered a rocky planet that is likely to have an atmosphere — and could be a candidate host for life — according to a report published this week in the journal *Science* and summarised by Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02200-5). A research team led by Harvard planetary scientist Collin Cherubim observed helium escaping from the atmosphere of LHS 1140b, a finding that indicates the planet has a helium-rich upper atmosphere and supports earlier evidence that small, rocky planets can retain atmospheres.

The discovery matters because LHS 1140b sits in its star's "habitable zone" — the orbital region where a planet could maintain liquid water on its surface — making it a feasible site for life, Nature reports (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02200-5). Cherubim noted that for Earth-like life to exist, an atmosphere, liquid water and a rocky surface are required, and that LHS 1140b "could have all three." The planet was first detected in 2017 and orbits a red-dwarf star roughly 15 parsecs from Earth.

The team chose LHS 1140b because their computational models predicted it would show escaping helium, and they observed it using the Magellan Clay telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile for 6.5 hours on two occasions, in 2024 and 2025, capturing near-infrared absorption spectra, Nature writes (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02200-5). Those observations revealed an abundance of helium escaping from the outer atmosphere, though the composition of the inner atmosphere remains unclear.

Researchers caution the result is not definitive. The study cannot confirm whether water is present or verify the exact makeup of the planet's inner atmosphere, and the findings will need replicating in future observations, according to Nature (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02200-5). MIT astrophysicist Sara Seager called the work "an amazing missing piece of the puzzle" in establishing whether rocky exoplanets can have atmospheres.

Observing exoplanet atmospheres is technically demanding, and astronomers have mostly found airless worlds or atmospheres too faint to discern, Nature notes (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-02200-5). Cherubim suspects the inner atmosphere may contain water and oxidized molecules such as carbon dioxide, but that remains unverified — leaving open the central question of whether LHS 1140b truly harbours the conditions for life.

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