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Possible Habitable Planet, LHS 1140b, Only 40 Light Years Away

posted by martyb on Saturday April 22 2017, @04:32AM   Printer-friendly

kaszz writes:

A exoplanet has been discovered (paywalled) that is called "LHS 1140b" and it's deemed a super earth. It lies in the Goldilocks zone where water is in an accessible fluid phase. The atmosphere, however, also plays a critical role, as can be demonstrated with the planet Venus. Seven exoplanets had been found two months ago orbiting TRAPPIST-1, but LHS 1140b is deemed exceptional. Jason Dittmann, an astronomer at Harvard University that lead the research group, says it's the most interesting exoplanet he has seen in the past decade. In contrast with the TRAPPIST-1 star, LHS 1140 spins slowly and does not emit much high-energy radiation, which may also help the likelihood of life on its planet.

The planet is circa 5*10^9 years old, 500*10^6 years older than Earth. The diameter is 40% larger, the mass 6.6 times that of Earth, and gravity is 3.4 times that of Earth.

The first exoplanet was discovered in 1995 and since then at least 2000 has been discovered.

Many more details are available in a research letter (pdf).

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  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Saturday April 22 2017, @09:15PM (1 child)

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Saturday April 22 2017, @09:15PM (#498064) Homepage

    It could be British English which would make it 10^12.

    No it wouldn't, and it hasn't for many, many years.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @02:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 24 2017, @02:11AM (#498624)

    Yup, not since at least around 1974. That was the time when the UK government began using the short scale [millbanksystems.com] (1 billion == 109) in official documents:

    HC Deb 20 December 1974 vol 883 cc711-2W

    Mr. Maxwell-Hyslop asked the Prime Minister whether he will make it the practice of his administration that when Ministers employ the word “billion” in any official speeches, documents, or answers to Parliamentary Questions, they will, to avoid confusion, only do so in its British meaning of 1 million million and not in the sense in which it is used in the United States of America, which uses the term “billion” to mean 1,000 million.

    The Prime Minister: No. The word “billion” is now used internationally to mean 1,000 million and it would be confusing if British Ministers were to use it in any other sense. I accept that it could still be interpreted in this country as 1 million million and I shall ask my colleagues to ensure that, if they do use it, there should be no ambiguity as to its meaning.

    The Prime Minister here was Sir Harold Wilson. Before then the short scale was already seeing widespread colloquial use, and after the government began using it officially in 1974, use of the long scale (1 billion == 1012) dwindled in Britain and today is just about extinct. No English-speaking country today uses the long scale (India officially uses neither scale, they have their own system for number words such as lakh, crore, etc), though other languages (such as Spanish and French) use number words that reflect the long scale.