FigureAsia 35 Under 35 · Science
Shreyas Vissapragada
Age 28 · Exoplanet atmospheres · India / United States
Core observer on a 2026 Science study reporting time-variable helium escape from the atmosphere of LHS 1140 b.
- Approximate age at the edition eligibility date
- 28
- Field
- Astronomy
- Country or region
- India / United States
- FigureAsia U35 Assessment
- 83.1 / 100
Profile
Career and documented record
Atmospheric escape can determine whether a rocky planet remains habitable, but direct evidence beyond the Solar System is scarce. In Science in July 2026, Shreyas Vissapragada and collaborators reported helium absorption from the temperate rocky planet LHS 1140 b, with observations that changed between 2024 and 2025.
Vissapragada was a core observer and second author. The time variability is scientifically important: it suggests that escape cannot be understood from a single transit and may reflect a hydrogen-depleted, helium-rich upper atmosphere shaped by stellar conditions.
The result is an atmospheric signal, not evidence of life. Its force lies in adding a dynamic measurement to the study of a nearby habitable-zone world and demonstrating how repeated observations can overturn a static picture.
FigureAsia selection
Why Shreyas Vissapragada is on the list
Vissapragada is selected for helping secure one of the period's most compelling rocky-exoplanet atmosphere results. His position reflects both the observation and the discipline of its interpretation: atmosphere, escape and variability—never biology by implication.
Verified work
The 2025–26 record
LHS 1140 b atmosphere
Second-authored a Science report of helium escape from a temperate rocky exoplanet.
Time-variable signal
Helped establish a detection in one observing epoch and its absence in another.
Carnegie observing programme
Advanced atmospheric studies of small exoplanets from a tenure-track research appointment.
Field context
The work in its field
For small exoplanets, an atmosphere is difficult to detect and even harder to characterise over time. Escape signatures reveal evolution but remain sensitive to stellar activity and sparse transits.
FigureAsia U35 Assessment
Assessment breakdown
83.1out of 100
Substantive 2025–2026 contribution
15.4 / 20
Second-authored a Science report of helium escape from a temperate rocky exoplanet.
Verified scientific impact
12.3 / 15
A Science publication on a nearby rocky planet supplies rare empirical evidence in a field dominated by difficult measurements.
Originality and distinction
8.4 / 10
The distinction lies in treating atmospheric escape as a time-variable process through repeated high-resolution transit observations.
Field influence
8.4 / 10
For Vissapragada, field influence turns on whether this work changes the operating baseline in exoplanet atmospheres; the record supports that judgement.
Individual agency
8.4 / 10
Vissapragada is a core observer and second author; lead and senior scientific credit remain with the full collaboration.
Durability and trajectory
4.4 / 5
A continuing programme at Carnegie Science Observatories extends beyond this single result.
Asian significance and global relevance
4.4 / 5
Indian-American astronomer with documented family ties to Hyderabad and an active South Asian diaspora identity.
Evidential validity and reproducibility
6.8 / 8
The signal is tied to specific epochs and interpreted with explicit alternatives rather than inflated into a habitability claim.
Advance in scientific knowledge
5.9 / 7
The work adds direct evidence that rocky-planet upper atmospheres can vary on observable timescales.
Translational or methodological utility
4.3 / 5
It shapes observing strategies for future atmospheric surveys of temperate small planets.
Responsible research stewardship
4.4 / 5
The profile draws a hard line between atmospheric escape, surface habitability and life.