Just because LHS 1140b shares a few key traits with Earth doesn’t mean this planet is exactly like ours, though. But finding a super-Earth with a rocky composition is pretty rare, and the fact ...

This artist's impression shows the exoplanet LHS 1140b, which orbits a red dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth.

However, LHS 1140b’s mass is thought to be seven times greater than Earth, which could indicate the exoplanet is solid with a dense iron core.

ByAnthony Wood April 19, 2017 / Newfound super-Earth represents an excellent hunting spot for E.T. Artists impression of LHS 1140b orbiting its star M. Weiss/CfA View 2 Images 1 / 2 Artists ...

According to Nature, the most exciting part about the LHS 1140b find is that its atmospheric temperature is similar to that on Earth. This means that oxygen and water are more likely to be present ...

LHS 1140b lies 39 light years from our solar system — close enough that telescopes now under construction may be able to spot oxygen molecules.

Yet, “the high density and small size of [LHS 1140b] suggest that a mixture of iron and silicates—the same rocky materials that constitute the Earth—could comprise this planet,” she says.

We could hardly hope for a better target to perform one of the biggest quests in science – searching for evidence of life beyond Earth.” Astronomers will now use the Hubble Space Telescope to try to ...

Perhaps the best candidate for a habitable super-Earth is LHS 1140b, which orbits a red dwarf star about 49 light-years from Earth. It's about 60% wider than our planet but 6.48 times as massive.

A possible new Earth-like world has been found, and it’s giant, according to a study [PDF] published today in Nature. LHS 1140b, an exoplanet a mere 40 light-years away, is 40 percent larger ...

In December, the James Webb telescope made some observations of the planet to determine whether LHS 1440 b is a gas giant like Neptune or a “super-Earth” with an atmosphere and ocean. This ...