🔭 SCIENCE · ASTRONOMY

An atmosphere in LHS 1140 b: the super-Earth that reignites the search for life beyond the Solar System is confirmed

A Harvard-led team detected helium escaping from this rocky world in the habitable zone of a red dwarf 49 light-years away, the first firm indication of a persistent atmosphere on such a planet.

An international team of astronomers led by Harvard University confirmed the presence of an atmosphere on LHS 1140 b, a rocky super-Earth orbiting within the habitable zone of a red dwarf located about 49 light-years from Earth, in the constellation of Cetus. The finding, published on July 16 in the journal Science, is based on the detection of helium escaping from the upper layers of the planet, a signal that, according to the authors themselves, opens more questions than it closes, but which constitutes the strongest evidence to date that a rocky world in the habitable zone can conserve air after billions of years.

Planet	LHS 1140 b (rocky super-Earth)
Distance to Earth	≈ 49 light-years (constellation Cetus)
Host Star	LHS 1140 (M-type red dwarf, also GJ 3053), 3 billion years >, inactive
Dough	5.60 ± 0.19 Earth masses
Radio	1.73 Terrestrial radios
Orbital period	24.7 days
Stellar irradiation received	42% of that which the Earth receives from the Sun
Equilibrium temperature	226 K (≈ −47 °C), within the liquid water zone
Key instrument	WINERED spectrograph on the Magellan Clay telescope (Las Campanas Observatory, Chile)
Publication	Science, 16 de julio de 2026 · DOI 10.1126/science.aea9708

 

The team, led by astronomer Collin Cherubim, used the WINERED (Warm Infrared Echelle Spectrograph to Realize Extreme Dispersion) spectrograph, installed on the 6.5-meter Magellan Clay telescope at the Las Campanas Observatory in Chile. In September 2024, a rare alignment took place that allowed the transit of LHS 1140 b and the other rocky planet in the system, LHS 1140 c, to be observed in front of its star on the same night.

During the transit of LHS 1140 b, the spectrum showed clear helium absorption at high altitude, above the planet's solid radius; in the transit of LHS 1140 c, on the other hand, no equivalent signal was observed. The researchers interpret that difference as evidence that helium is actively escaping from LHS 1140b's upper atmosphere, heated by its star's extreme X-ray and ultraviolet radiation.

LHS 1140 b has a mass 5.6 times that of Earth and a radius 1.73 times greater, figures compatible with a rocky composition similar to that of Earth combined with a layer of low density, either a substantial atmosphere or a high proportion of water. Its equilibrium temperature of 226 kelvin (about −47 °C) puts it within the so-called liquid water zone, although that does not automatically imply that there are oceans on its surface.

The host star, LHS 1140, is an unusually quiet red dwarf for its kind, more than 3 billion years old and with low magnetic activity. That stellar calm could explain, according to the researchers, why the planet has managed to retain atmospheric gases for so long, instead of losing them completely as has happened with other rocky worlds observed in habitable zones of more active stars.

The authors themselves insist on qualifying the scope of the finding. The helium signal was clearly detected in the 2024 observations, but did not reappear in a second campaign conducted in 2025, which the researchers interpret as evidence of a time-varying gas leak, rather than a measurement error.

That variability leaves open a central question for the team: whether LHS 1140 b is actually a virtually bare rock that occasionally releases bursts of gas that escape immediately, or whether it maintains a stable atmosphere that, as on Earth, continuously loses and replenishes gases.

At the moment, the exact composition of the lower atmosphere remains unknown. Previous studies with the James Webb Space Telescope had already ruled out a dense envelope of hydrogen around LHS 1140 b, leaving as the most likely hypothesis a thin atmosphere dominated by nitrogen or carbon dioxide, with inconclusive indications of water vapor.

The LHS 1140 system is also home to LHS 1140 c, a smaller planet much closer to the star, with an orbital period of just 3.78 days and a stellar irradiation about five times greater than that received by Earth. No sign of escaping helium was detected on this planet, suggesting that it lacks a comparable atmosphere.

The authors frame this contrast within the concept of the "cosmic shoreline": a theoretical boundary that would separate planets capable of retaining atmosphere for billions of years from those that lose it rapidly due to stellar radiation and stellar wind. LHS 1140 b and LHS 1140 c, despite orbiting the same star, would appear to be located on opposite sides of that boundary.

The next step, according to the team, will depend on additional observations with the James Webb Space Telescope over the next four to five years, aimed at looking for the spectral signature of water in the planet's atmosphere. If those molecules appear consistently, the researchers believe it would be a strong indication that LHS 1140 b supports a stable and long-lasting atmosphere, and not a transient phenomenon.

The idea that LHS 1140 b could host a temperate global ocean, covered by a layer of ice or directly exposed under a thick atmosphere, has been circulating for years among exoplanet specialists, supported by its density and its position within the habitable zone. However, both Cherubim's team and external specialists consulted by the journal Science stress that the current finding confirms the existence of gas in the upper atmosphere, not the presence of liquid water or habitable conditions on the surface.

Independent astronomers, such as René Doyon, from the University of Montreal, described the result as extraordinary if confirmed, although they stressed that it is a first step in a verification process that will still take years. In this sense, cataloging LHS 1140 b as "the most solid candidate" for ocean world reflects the legitimate enthusiasm of the scientific community, but it should be read as a working hypothesis and not as a confirmed fact.

Methodologically, this is the first case in which an atmosphere around a rocky planet in the habitable zone of another star has been clearly documented, among the more than 6,000 exoplanets catalogued so far. For years, whenever astronomers located a rocky world in the habitable zone, subsequent observations ended up revealing bare surfaces, with no trace of air. LHS 1140 b breaks, for now, that pattern.

For copyright reasons, the original images are not embedded in this document; The absolute links published by the media and the scientific journal are listed below.

🔗 Artist's concept of LHS 1140 b and LHS 1140 c — https://cdn.sci.news/images/2026/07/image_14925-LHS-1140.jpg  (Credit: Melissa Weiss/Harvard & Smithsonian's Center for Astrophysics, via Sci.News)

🔗 Original article with spectroscopic figures — https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea9708  (Science / AAAS)

🔗 Coverage with image of the planetary system — https://www.sci.news/astronomy/atmosphere-habitable-zone-exoplanet-lhs-1140b-14925.html  (Sci.News)

🔗 Helium escaping from the atmosphere of a nearby rocky exoplanet orbiting in a habitable zone — https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aea9708  (Science, artículo original, 16 jul. 2026)

🔗 Astronomers spot first atmosphere around a potentially habitable alien world — https://www.science.org/content/article/astronomers-spot-first-atmosphere-around-potentially-habitable-alien-world  (Science / AAAS, noticia)

🔗 Potential Atmosphere Detected on Habitable-Zone Exoplanet LHS 1140b — https://www.sci.news/astronomy/atmosphere-habitable-zone-exoplanet-lhs-1140b-14925.html  (Sci.News)

🔗 Astronomers detect first atmosphere on rocky 'super-Earth' — https://www.rt.com/news/643172-astronomers-superearth-atmosphere-helium/  (RT)

🔗 Nearby rocky planet may be replenishing helium from atmosphere, study finds — https://phys.org/news/2026-07-nearby-rocky-planet-replenishing-helium.html  (Phys.org)

🔗 Astronomers Detect A Long-Lasting Atmosphere On A Planet That Could Resemble Earth — https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/07/astronomers-detect-atmosphere-on-a-planet/  (Daily Galaxy)

 

 

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Note: This coverage is based on the article published in Science (DOI 10.1126/science.aea9708) and the news coverage available at the time of writing; The exact nature of the atmosphere and the possible existence of liquid water remain under investigation.

How does the state control itself?

Institutions, Comparative Evidence, and the False Dilemma Between Left and Right

The State does not control itself as if it were a single subject, but through a system of institutions that limit and control each other. This principle, typical of the constitutional and democratic rule of law, is based on the idea that all power requires limits to avoid its concentration and arbitrary exercise.

The division of powers, oversight bodies, judicial independence, accountability, transparency and citizen control are mechanisms designed to ensure that the exercise of power remains subject to the Constitution and the law. Its purpose is not to hinder the action of the State, but to preserve the public interest, protect the rights of individuals and prevent corruption.

From a philosophical and republican perspective, corruption does not depend exclusively on the size of the State, but on the quality of its institutions and the effectiveness of its control mechanisms. A small state can be as corrupt as a large one if it lacks transparency, institutional independence and effective sanctions. Similarly, a state with broad functions can manage public resources with integrity when there are strong controls and a true culture of public accountability.

Therefore, the solution to corruption is not simply to shrink or enlarge the State, but to strengthen institutions, guarantee the independence of control bodies, promote transparency and ensure that all exercise of power is subject to limits, supervision and accountability. In a republic, the problem is not how much power the state has, but how controlled, responsible and transparent its exercise is.

Comparative evidence: institutions, corruption and well-being

These statements cease to be a philosophical intuition when they are contrasted with data. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published annually by Transparency International measures, on a scale of 0 to 100, how experts and businessmen perceive the level of corruption in the public sector in 182 countries. The 2025 edition shows a global average of just 42 points, the lowest in more than a decade, with 122 out of 182 countries below 50 points.

Figure 1. Score of the 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index in selected countries. Source: Authors' elaboration with data from Transparency International, CPI 2025.

The graph above does not order countries by ideology or by the size of their state, but by the quality of their control institutions. Denmark, Finland, Singapore, New Zealand, and Norway—with very different state and economic traditions—share something more relevant than their political orientation: independent judiciaries, a free press, a professionalized civil service, and effective accountability mechanisms.

Why this matters for the well-being of the population

Institutional quality is not an abstract discussion: it has measurable effects on people's daily lives. Economic research on the CPI has found an association between higher index scores and higher long-term economic growth, with estimates placing the effect at around an additional 1.7 percentage points of GDP growth for each point of improvement in the index, in addition to a greater attraction of foreign investment.

Transparency International also documents links between corruption and very specific areas of well-being: countries with lower levels of corruption generally show better access to and affordability of justice for their citizens; there is a relationship between health service coverage – as measured by the World Health Organization's Universal Health Coverage Index – and levels of corruption; and more than ninety percent of journalists killed in recent years for covering corruption cases died in countries with CPI scores below 50.

These data allow us to trace the causal mechanism that underlies the first section of this document: when judicial controls, a free press and accountability are lacking, the resources allocated to hospitals, schools, infrastructure and social protection are diverted or mismanaged, and it is the people with lower incomes who pay the highest cost, because corruption works as a regressive tax that falls more heavily on poor households.

Specific cases in the world

The following table summarizes examples from different regions and models of state. The objective is not to present a ranking of "good" or "bad" countries, but to show that the variable that explains the result is not the size of the State or its ideological orientation, but the strength of its control mechanisms.

Country	State model	CPI 2025	Key institutional factor
Denmark	Broad welfare state	89	Professional civil service, free press, budget transparency
Singapore	Reduced state, highly regulatory	84	Independent judiciary, severe and consistent sanctions against corruption
New Zealand	Mid-sized status	81	Transparent political financing, low concentration of power
Estonia	Digitized Administration	76	E-government that reduces discretionary contact between officials and citizens
Uruguay	Social State, Latin America	73	Stable democratic alternation, high social mobility and judicial independence
Botswana	African state, natural resources	58	Transparent management of diamond income and parliamentary control
Rwanda	State in post-conflict reconstruction	58	Administrative reform and low formal tolerance for minor corruption
Venezuela	State with captured institutions	10	Collapse of judicial independence and public oversight
Somalia / South Sudan	Fragile or conflict-ridden state	9	Absence of control institutions and the rule of law

Table 1. Comparative cases of institutional control and perception of corruption. Source: Authors' elaboration with data from Transparency International, CPI 2025.

The case of Botswana is particularly illustrative: it is one of the few diamond-rich countries that avoided the so-called "curse of natural resources" thanks to the fact that, since its independence, it subjected mining income to parliamentary controls and public audits, in contrast to Venezuela, where the capture of control institutions coincided with economic and social collapse despite having the largest oil reserves in the world. Rwanda, for its part, built a public administration with a low formal tolerance for minor corruption after a devastating conflict, which allowed it to achieve levels of control comparable to those of much richer countries.

At the other extreme, Somalia and South Sudan show what happens when there are practically no institutions of control: there is no state to supervise itself because the basic functions of justice, security and public administration have collapsed, with severe humanitarian consequences.

Figure 2. Regional average of the Corruption Perceptions Index 2025. Source: Authors' elaboration with data from Transparency International, CPI 2025.

The regional average confirms the pattern: no region in the world is exempt from the problem—even Western Europe, the highest-scoring region, has been declining faster than any other in the past decade—but the differences between regions mostly reflect differences in the strength of their control institutions, not a single economic model.

Beyond the false dilemma between left and right

One of the biggest obstacles to discussing anti-corruption policies effectively is the trap of reducing the debate to whether the state should be bigger or smaller, more left-wing or more right-wing. The comparative data show that such discussion, while legitimate for other purposes, does not predict the level of corruption in a country.

●      Denmark and Finland have large welfare states, with high tax burdens and strong public intervention, and are among the least corrupt countries in the world.

●      Singapore and New Zealand combine comparatively smaller or more market-oriented states with similarly high levels of transparency.

●      Uruguay, with a consolidated social state, leads the Latin American region in controlling corruption, while countries with states of similar size in the same region occupy much lower positions.

●      Venezuela shows that a State with enormous resources and broad powers can collapse in terms of integrity when judicial independence and oversight disappear.

What distinguishes the best-evaluated countries is not their place on the left-right spectrum, but a common set of institutional conditions: independence of the judiciary, freedom of the press, protection of civic space for social organizations and journalists, transparent political financing, and public procurement systems open to scrutiny. In fact, Transparency International warns that, in recent decades, the restriction of civic space – that is, limitations on the press, non-governmental organizations and social protest, promoted indistinctly by governments of different political persuasions – systematically coincides with falls in corruption control scores.

Discussing public policies under the slogan of "more State" or "less State" diverts attention from the real problem and makes it easier for actors of any political orientation to evade accountability. The relevant question for policy-making is not how much state is needed, but what controls, what institutional independence, and what transparency accompany public decisions, no matter who governs.

Conclusion

The state controls itself through a network of mutually limiting institutions, and international evidence confirms that the quality of these institutions—not their size or political color—determines whether power is exercised in the public interest or diverted to private gain. Strengthening judicial independence, transparency, freedom of the press and citizen control is not an ideological preference: it is the condition common to all countries, large or small, left or right, that manage to translate the power of the State into effective well-being for their population.

Sources: Transparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index 2025 (published on 10 February 2026); World Health Organization, Universal Health Services Coverage Index; Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).