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Exoplanet LHS 475 b and Its Star (Illustration)

Illustration of a planet and its star on a black background. The planet is large, in the foreground at the center and the star is smaller, in the background and also at the center. The planet is rocky and has no atmosphere. The top quarter of the planet (the side facing the star) is lit, while the rest is in shadow. The star is bright yellowish-white, with no clear features.

This illustration reflects that exoplanet LHS 475 b is rocky and almost precisely the same size as Earth based on new evidence from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The planet is only a few hundred degrees warmer than our home planet.

The planet whips around its star in just two days, far faster than any planet in the solar system, but its red dwarf star is less than half the temperature of the Sun. Researchers will follow up this summer with another observation with Webb, which they hope will allow them to definitively conclude if the planet has an atmosphere.

LHS 475 b is relatively close, 41 light-years away, in the constellation Octans.

This illustration is based on observations from Webb. Webb has not captured a direct image of this planet.

Read more about LHS 475 b.

  • Release Date
    January 11, 2023
  • Science Release
    NASA’s Webb Confirms Its First Exoplanet
    Read the release
  • Credit
    Illustration: NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

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Related Images & Videos

Graphic titled “Rocky Exoplanet LHS 475 b Transit Light Curve, NIRSpec Bright Object Time-Series Spectroscopy.” Behind the graph is an illustration of the planet and its star. The graph, or spectrum, shows the change in relative brightness of the star-planet system between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 31, 2022. Data form a U-shaped valley of low brightness labeled “Starlight blocked by the planet” at 5 p.m.

Exoplanet LHS 475 b (NIRSpec Transit Light Curve)

How do researchers spot a distant planet? By observing the changes in light as it orbits its star. A light curve from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) shows the change in brightness from the LHS 475 star system over time as the planet...

Graphic titled “Rocky Exoplanet LHS 475 b Atmosphere Composition, NIRSpec Bright Object Time-Series Spectroscopy.” The graphic shows the transmission spectrum of the rocky exoplanet LHS 475 b captured using Webb's NIRSpec Bright Object Time-Series Spectroscopy mode, with an illustration of the planet and its star in the background. The data points are plotted as white circles with grey error bars on a graph of amount of light blocked in percent on the vertical y axis versus wavelength of light in microns on the horizontal x axis. A straight green line represents a best-fit model, which is featureless. A curvy red line represents a methane model, and a slightly less curvy purple line represents a carbon dioxide model.

Exoplanet LHS 475 b (Transmission Spectrum)

A flat line in a transmission spectrum, like this one, can be exciting – it can tell us a lot about the planet. Researchers used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) to observe exoplanet LHS 475 b. As this spectrum shows, Webb did not observe...

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Details

Last Updated
Aug 28, 2025
Contact
Media

Laura Betz
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, Maryland
laura.e.betz@nasa.gov

Illustration Credit

NASA, ESA, CSA, Leah Hustak (STScI)

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