Scientists just expanded the search for rocky alien worlds with air

Astronomers have added two more exoplanets to a growing study aimed at finding out whether rocky worlds near small, faint stars might have air.

Scientists leading a high-priority observing program with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have added two more rocky planets outside the solar system to their shortlist. These distant worlds — LHS 1140 b and LTT 1445 Ab — both orbit red dwarfs. These stars, also called M-dwarfs, are smaller and cooler than the sun, but far more common in space,...