If Lalande 21185 was a yellow dwarf, like our sun, then Lalande 21185 b and 47 Ursae Majoris b could be considered sister worlds. Both worlds have masses similar to Jupiter. Both are in similar orbits. If Lalande 21185 was a yellow dwarf, then Lalande 21185 b might be orbited by moons with liquid water. But Lalande 21185 is a red dwarf star, cool and dim. Lalande 21185 b is more akin to Saturn or Uranus than it's warmer extrasolar cousins. Like Jupiter, Lalande 21185 b's atmosphere is probably mostly hydrogen and helium. It's moons are frozen and barren, composed mostly of water, methane, and ammonia ice, with little if any rocky core, like the moons of Saturn and Uranus. Moons that orbit close to the planet may be heated enough to form gysers of liquid methane, such as the ones on Neptune's moon Triton, but not enough for underground oceans or vulcanism. These desolate moons offer little hope for life.
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