NASA reveals 7 earth-size worlds orbiting a star outside our solar system
Posted Feb 22, 2017 01:26:26 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
For the first time, astronomers have discovered seven Earth-size planets orbiting a nearby star – and these new worlds could hold life.
NASA calls it a “significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments.”
“Answering the question ‘are we alone’ is a top science priority and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the agency’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
This cluster of planets is 40 light-years – or 235 trillion miles – away in the constellation Aquarius. They circle tightly around a dim dwarf star called Trappist-1, barely the size of Jupiter. Three planets are in the so-called habitable zone, where water and, possibly life, might exist. The others are right on the doorstep.
Scientists say they need to study the atmospheres before determining whether these planets could support some type of life.
Last spring, the University of Liege’s Michael Gillon reported finding three planets around Trappist-1. Now the count is up to seven, and Gillon says there could be more.
