Overview
- A peer-reviewed study published February 12 confirms four close-in planets orbiting the red dwarf LHS 1903 about 116 light-years away.
- The system’s architecture is rocky–gaseous–gaseous–rocky, with the outer world LHS 1903 e measured at roughly 1.7 Earth radii and consistent with a rocky composition.
- NASA’s TESS first identified the system, and ESA’s CHEOPS plus multiple ground-based observatories refined planet sizes and orbits, all with periods under 30 days.
- Dynamical simulations ruled out giant impacts, atmospheric stripping, and planet swapping or migration as sufficient explanations for the observed layout.
- Researchers propose inside-out, sequential formation in a gas-depleted environment, and experts highlight the system as a target for follow-up, including potential JWST atmospheric studies.