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

• 01Researchers detected an atmosphere surrounding the rocky planet LHS 1140 b, which orbits within the habitable zone of a red star 48 light-years from Earth.
• 02The gas identified in the atmosphere of LHS 1140 b is helium, likely located in the upper atmosphere.
• 03The findings were published in the journal Science by a team including lead author Dr. Collin Cherubim and co-author Dr. David Charbonneau from Harvard University.
• 04Dr. Collin Cherubim stated, "This is the first time anyone has found an atmosphere on a rocky planet in the habitable zone of another star."
• 05Dr. David Charbonneau noted that the study reveals the first atmosphere discovered on a rocky planet in the habitable zone of a star outside our solar system.
• 06Over 6,000 exoplanets have been discovered, but only a few dozen are small, rocky worlds located in their star's habitable zone.
• 07Previous analysis of the exoplanet K2-18 b by a NASA-led team in 2025 determined that signals previously attributed to dimethyl sulphide were too weak to confirm and could form without biological activity.
• 08NASA's James Webb Space Telescope ruled out an Earth-like atmosphere for the planet TRAPPIST-1d, while data for TRAPPIST-1e remains inconclusive.

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Researchers reported the detection of helium in the atmosphere of LHS 1140 b, marking the first time an atmosphere has been found on a rocky planet within a habitable zone outside our solar system. The discovery, published in the journal Science, is described by Harvard University researchers as significant evidence for the existence of Earth-like conditions beyond our solar system. This finding is contextualized against previous inconclusive or negative atmospheric analyses of other exoplanets such as K2-18 b and TRAPPIST-1d.