# Astronomers Confirm First Atmosphere Ever Detected on a Habitable-Zone Rocky Planet

*2026-07-22 10:01 UTC · Science · 1 min read*

> A Harvard-led team detected helium escaping from LHS 1140 b, confirming the first-ever atmosphere on a rocky planet in another star's habitable zone.

A Harvard-led team has confirmed the first atmosphere ever detected on a rocky planet orbiting inside another star's habitable zone. The target, LHS 1140 b, is a super-Earth roughly five times Earth's mass and 1.7 times its radius, circling a red dwarf star 48 light-years away in the constellation Cetus.

Lead author Collin Cherubim and Harvard colleagues Robin Wordsworth and David Charbonneau used the WINERED spectrograph at the Magellan Observatory in Chile to catch helium leaking from the planet's upper atmosphere during a rare transit. That helium signature is direct evidence the planet has held onto a thin, likely water-rich atmosphere for over 3 billion years, rather than having it stripped away by stellar radiation like Venus or Mars.

The findings, published in Science on July 16, 2026, tackle one of exoplanet science's toughest open questions: whether small, rocky worlds around red dwarfs can keep an atmosphere at all. Since an atmosphere is considered essential for a planet to support life as we know it, LHS 1140 b now ranks among the most promising known targets in the search for habitable worlds beyond our solar system.

## Sources

- [sciencedaily.com](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/07/260721000825.htm)
- [techtimes.com](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/321071/20260720/helium-escaping-lhs-1140-b-confirms-first-habitable-zone-rocky-atmosphere.htm)

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TechTools News · https://techtools.cz/tools/news/article/2051-astronomers-confirm-first-atmosphere-ever-detected-on-a-habitable-zone-rocky
Česká verze: https://techtools.cz/tools/news/clanek/2124-astronomove-potvrdili-prvni-atmosferu-na-kamenne-planete-v-obyvatelne-zone