Is this the most Earth-like planet yet?

An artist's concept showing the exoplanet LHS 1140 b in the foreground, enveloped by an atmosphere with helium. In the background is its red dwarf star with another planet in its orbit.

17 July 2026

Aliens? Nope. But scientists have made a historic breakthrough.

They have found a planet they say may be the closest they have got to finding one that could support life.

Named LHS 1140b, the planet is one of the most promising Earth-like exoplanets ever discovered.

And a new discovery about the planet has marked a big milestone in the search for alien life.

This Earth-like planet might have an atmosphere
Could this large Earth-like planet be home to alien life?

The planet was discovered a decade ago and was already known to be quite similar to Earth; it is located in the "habitable zone" of its star, which means temperatures could allow liquid water to exist, and has a similar composition.

But new observations suggest it has also has an atmosphere - something scientists have long hoped to find on a rocky planet like this.

This new discovery, along with previous findings show the planet has some of the key ingredients that could make it capable of supporting life.

And whilst it doesn't prove that life exists there, it does give astronomers a much better place to search for signs of it.

An artist's view of the James Webb Space Telescope

Scientists hope to look further at the planet to confirm that it does have an atmosphere, and get a better look at how it might be composed.

That will include using Nasa's James Webb Space Telescope (JWST).

"JWST data over the next four to five years will look for water, and if there's water in the atmosphere, then it's probably a stable atmosphere that will persist." said Jason Dittmann, from the University of Florida, who first found the planet.