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Story summary
- Scientists observed helium escaping from LHS 1140b, a rocky Earth-size planet in its habitable zone.
- Dr Collin Cherubim’s team detected the helium with an infrared spectrograph on the Magellan Clay telescope in Chile, ruling out Earth-air contamination.
- Modeling suggests ~10% water and an atmosphere of helium, water vapor and carbon dioxide, which astrophysicists Jayne Birkby and Yamila Miguel say is key for red-dwarf studies because escaping helium indicates loss, not habitability.
