Science, Webb Telescope Finds Frozen World: However Possibly Liveable

A world group of astronomers led by the College of Montreal (UdeM) has found utilizing the Webb telescope that an exoplanet is almost definitely lined in ice and water and is doubtlessly liveable. When the exoplanet LHS 1140 b was first found, astronomers hypothesized that it might be a mini-Neptune: a planet that’s primarily gaseous, however a lot smaller than Neptune. However after analyzing information from the James Webb House Telescope (JWST) collected in December 2023, mixed with earlier information from different house telescopes similar to Spitzer, Hubble, and TESS, scientists got here to a really completely different conclusion.

The constellation of Cetus

Positioned about 48 light-years from Earth within the constellation Cetus, LHS 1140 b seems to be one of the crucial promising exoplanets within the liveable zone of its star, doubtlessly internet hosting an environment and even an ocean of liquid water. The outcomes of this discovery by astronomers on the Université de Montréal can be found on ArXiv and can quickly be printed in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

The pink dwarf star

LHS 1140 b, an exoplanet orbiting a low-mass pink dwarf star about one-fifth the scale of the Solar, has intrigued scientists as a result of it is among the closest exoplanets to our Photo voltaic System that lies inside its star’s liveable zone. Exoplanets discovered on this “Goldilocks zone” have temperatures that may permit water to exist on them in liquid kind.

The Hycean World

Earlier this yr, researchers led by Charles Cadieuxa PhD scholar on the Trottier Institute for Analysis on Exoplanets (iREx) of UdeM, supervised by Professor René Doyonhave reported new mass and radius estimates for LHS 1140 b with distinctive accuracy. One of many crucial questions on LHS 1140 b was whether or not it was a mini-Neptune exoplanet (a small gasoline large with a dense, hydrogen-rich ambiance) or a super-Earth (a rocky planet bigger than Earth). The latter state of affairs included the opportunity of a so-called “Hycean world” with a worldwide liquid ocean shrouded in a hydrogen-rich ambiance that may exhibit a definite atmospheric sign that might be noticed utilizing the highly effective Webb telescope.

Temperature and water

Though nonetheless solely a preliminary outcome, the presence of a nitrogen-rich ambiance on LHS 1140 b means that the planet retained a considerable ambiance, creating situations that might assist liquid water. This discovering favors the water/snowball world state of affairs as probably the most believable. Present fashions point out that if LHS 1140 b had an Earth-like ambiance, it could be a snowball planet with an unlimited “goal” ocean about 4,000 kilometers in diameter, equal to half the floor space of ​​the Atlantic Ocean. The floor temperature on the middle of this alien ocean might even be as excessive as 20 levels Celsius. LHS 1140 b’s potential ambiance and favorable situations for liquid water make it a superb candidate for future habitability research.