On February 22, 2017, well-known space exploration program NASA announced its discovery of a new solar system with seven new exoplanets (planets outside our solar system). The solar system, named the TRAPPIST-1 system after the Belgian telescope that discovered it, was actually discovered in late May of 2016, but was not fully researched until this year.
Only three of the seven exoplanets had been found. They all have potential for some form of water on the surface, but three exoplanets (TRAPPIST-1e, f and g) have the highest chance to sustain life forms.
The system lies in the constellation Aquarius and is not perceivable by the naked eye, despite being “only” 40 light-years from Earth. This is not exactly a couple minutes away; the closest star in proximity to us besides the Sun is about 4.35 light years, a significant change.
The reason we cannot see the system is because TRAPPIST-1, the star in the center of the system, is an ultracool (under 4,400 Fahrenheit, as compared to our Sun at 9,941 Fahrenheit) dwarf star and is slightly larger than Jupiter. This type of star is common in the Milky Way, but this is the first time planets have been discovered orbiting one.
Julien de Wit, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S., spoke about the subject of sending satellites to learn more about the exoplanets, saying that, "Thanks to several giant telescopes currently under construction, including ESO’s E-ELT and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope due to launch for 2018, we will soon be able to study the atmospheric composition of these planets and to explore them first for water, then for traces of biological activity. That's a giant step in the search for life in the Universe.”
By: Kaatje Bruin, Writer.
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