Massive 'eyeball' exoplanet looking like perfect candidate for alien life

By Chris Melore

Research led by Charles Cadieux, University of Montreal

Jul 09, 2024



Temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b may be a world completely covered in ice (left) similar to Jupiter’s moon Europa or may be an ice world with a liquid substellar ocean and a cloudy atmosphere (center). LHS 1140 b is 1.7 times the size of our planet Earth (right) and is the most promising habitable zone exoplanet yet found in the search for liquid water beyond the Solar System. (CREDIT: BENOIT GOUGEON, UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL)

MONTREAL, Quebec — A distant world that may look to many like a giant eyeball floating through space could be the perfect place to search for alien life. Researchers at the University of Montreal believe the vast ocean on exoplanet LHS 1140 b may be teeming with alien life.

When astronomers first spotted LHS 1140 b, they thought it might be a mini-Neptune – a small, gassy planet similar to our own solar system’s ice giant. Thanks to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), however, that theory has just been turned on its head!

The Canadian astronomers have been poring over data from the Webb telescope, along with information from other
space observatories like Spitzer, Hubble, and TESS. Their findings? LHS 1140 b isn’t a gas ball at all – it’s more likely a “super-Earth” with some incredibly fascinating features.

First off, LHS 1140 b is essentially sitting right in our cosmic backyard. The exoplanet is approximately 48 light-years away in the constellation Cetus. That’s close enough for our most powerful telescopes to get a good look at this alien world.

More:
https://studyfinds.org/eyeball-exoplanet-alien-life/