LHS 1140 b is a massive, dense rocky planet. It orbits within the habitable
zone of the red dwarf LHS 1140. It was discovered in 2017 by the MEarth
Project, using the radial velocity and transit methods.
LHS 1140 b is 6.4 times the mass of Earth and over 60% larger in radius,
putting it within the super-Earth category of planets. It is one of the
densest planets found, with a density almost twice that of Earth, along with
a high surface gravity of about 2.4 times Earth's.
LHS 1140 b orbits entirely within the star's habitable zone and gets 41%
the incident flux of Earth. The planet is 40 light-years away and transits its
star, making it an excellent candidate for atmospheric studies with ground-
based and/or space telescopes.
The red dwarf star is 0.15 times the mass and 0.19 times the radius of the
Sun with a spectral type of M4.5V. Its temperature is 3200 K, and it has a
luminosity of 0.0044 of the Sun. It is about 5 billion years old.
It appears to be an inactive star, with no major flare events noted. It ro-
tates every 130 days.
