First atmosphere found on Earth-like planet in habitable zone of distant star

jimbokun

48 light years is in our back yard. Close enough that we could probably develop a probe to get there in the next few centuries and check it out. What are the current popular candidates for propulsion systems capable of accelerating to near the speed of light?

astral_drama

How far will we peer into the unknown? What will we find out there?

singpolyma3

> The gas detected in the atmosphere is helium, which would not be able to support life Nonsense. You mean not able to support terrestrial life.

mekdoonggi

We should build a solar lens telescope. By the time we're ready to use it, we'll have a bunch of candidates to point it at.

MattCruikshank

Sure, but keep in mind that technically New Jersey is "habitable," so don't get too excited.

bilsbie

Am I understanding right? They detected an atmosphere but don’t know what it’s made of?

kevthecoder

Related/dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48939742 (45 comments)

lucastamoios

> The gas detected in the atmosphere is helium, which would not be able to support life, but other gasses may also be present. Yeah, but not that much.

ck2

we talked about this in great detail yesterday on HN with some fantastic comments * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48939742 NASA has a neat exoplanet catalog where you can also switch to its solar system view * https://science.nasa.gov/exoplanet-catalog/lhs-1140-b/ Super-Earths are interesting but not technically habitable, at least not by humanoids, the gravity would be insane There are new telescopes and techniques coming online really soon that can potentially find closer to Earth-sized planets but they probably won't be within 50 light years adding: hmm maybe gravity not too horrible on 1140b but still INTENSE (assuming Google's "AI" is correct) > Gravity Formula: \frac{Mass}{Radius^2}\)Calculation: \(5.6 \div (1.73)^2 = 5.6 \div 2.9929 \approx 1.87\) > if you weigh 150 lbs on Earth, you would weigh roughly 280.5 lbs on 1140b

dempedempe

> Researchers have found the first atmosphere surrounding an Earth-like, rocky planet orbiting within the habitable zone of a distant star. Well, if they observed not only a planet orbiting the star but also the planet's atmosphere, it must not be a very "distant" star.

danieltk76

i do hope in my lifetime we find other animals on other planets

techteach00

What technology currently available combined with the best launch window, gravity assist etc exists? Might as well send a probe.

nobody9999

Underlying paper from Science [0] [0] https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-spot-fir...

quotemstr

Keep in mind that Venus is also an Earth-like planet with an atmosphere in the habitable zone of a sun-like star.

shevy-java

This whole search for life outside planet Earth is ... stupid. Life is already on this planet. Why would it matter whether life exists outside of this planet or not? I mean, this is pointless. I understand that some have a financial motife to drive this narrative, but it is not logical. The counter argument is quite simple: IF there is no divine being, then ALL of life's complexity is logical and natural. So, it really does not matter WHERE it originates nor how many times. Why would it matter if it originated 10000x or only once? Now, I do not doubt that it has originated several times rather than once, but my point is that this extra-terrestrial search MAKES ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE AT ALL. That is not to say that research and exploration in space are pointless, but that it IS pointless to "search" for extraterrestrial life. Yet none in the media point that out. It's all as if it were some magical, mythical quest here.

throw4847285

I'm always so alienated (sorry) by the excitement around things like this. People start fantasizing about FTL and space arks and there is just no evidence that any of that is possible, desirable, effective, anything really. I know I'm a killjoy, but I do think there's something negative about the impact of science fiction on engineers. Like, the people who tend (no offense) to be the most literal, black and white thinkers get exposed to art and instead of processing it as the output of human creativity, they start to imagine that it's desirable or even real.

tulio_ribeiro

Didn't know a rocky planet in the habitable zone of a red dwarf could retain atmosphere against intense stellar stripping. Red dwarfs are known to be cooler (the habitable zone is therefore closer) and unstable. I don't think LHS 1140b is "Earth-like" at all. Rather, it's more like a mini-Neptune, being boiled off by its star. Edit: JWST emission spectroscopy of LHS 1140b as it passes behind its star rules out a mini-Neptune. https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.15136

OrvalWintermute

They found Planet X, Nibiru! :0

de6u99er

There could be a second one (see at the end if this interview). https://youtu.be/twgsq80PD4o

smb06

I feel like I've been hearing about atmosphere on Earth-like planets for a while. Or maybe I've missed some nuance.