In what NASA researcher Sean Carey calls the “most exciting discovery” made using the Spitzer Telescope, NASA announced the discovery of seven new planets near a dwarf star, known as TRAPPIST-1.
The earth-sized planets are estimated to be 39 light years away from Earth. Because the planets are located outside of our solar system, the planets are given the term “exo-planets.”
Using the Spitzer telescope, researchers discovered that the TRAPPIST-1 star is a dwarf star that is much cooler and much smaller than the sun. The planet system is the first known system of Earth sized planets around a single star.
"This discovery gives a hint that discovering a second earth is not a matter of if, but when," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate.
Three of the planets are located within the ‘habitable zone.’ Scientists believe that all seven could have liquid water on the planet’s surface, but the highest chances come with the three within the habitable zone.
Nikole Lewis, an astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute says the temperatures on the exo-planet known as TRAPPIST-1E could be very similar to earth's. TRAPPIST-1E is close in size to our earth, and receives the same amount of light as earth does.
"The seven wonders of TRAPPIST-1 are the first Earth-size planets that have been found orbiting this kind of star," said Michael Gillon, principal investigator of the TRAPPIST exoplanet survey at the University of Liege, Belgium. "It is also the best target yet for studying the atmospheres of potentially habitable, Earth-size worlds."
"The TRAPPIST-1 system provides one of the best opportunities in the next decade to study the atmospheres around Earth-size planets," said Nikole Lewis, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.
Scientists believe the planets are could be tidally locked to their star, which means that only one side of the planet will face the star.
Spitzer, Hubble, and Kepler will help astronomers plan for follow-up studies using NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope which will launch in 2018.
The Webb telescope will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone, and other components of a planet's atmosphere. Webb will also analyze planets' temperatures and surface pressures – key factors in assessing their habitability.
In what NASA researcher Sean Carey calls the “most exciting discovery” made using the Spitzer Telescope, NASA announced the discovery of seven new planets near a dwarf star, known as TRAPPIST-1.
The earth-sized planets are estimated to be 39 light years away from Earth. Because the planets are located outside of our solar system, the planets are given the term “exo-planets.”
Using the Spitzer telescope, researchers discovered that the TRAPPIST-1 star is a dwarf star that is much cooler and much smaller than the sun. The planet system is the first known system of Earth sized planets around a single star.
"This discovery gives a hint that discovering a second earth is not a matter of if, but when," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate.
Three of the planets are located within the ‘habitable zone.’ Scientists believe that all seven could have liquid water on the planet’s surface, but the highest chances come with the three within the habitable zone.
Nikole Lewis, an astronomer with the Space Telescope Science Institute says the temperatures on the exo-planet known as TRAPPIST-1E could be very similar to earth's. TRAPPIST-1E is close in size to our earth, and receives the same amount of light as earth does.
"The seven wonders of TRAPPIST-1 are the first Earth-size planets that have been found orbiting this kind of star," said Michael Gillon, principal investigator of the TRAPPIST exoplanet survey at the University of Liege, Belgium. "It is also the best target yet for studying the atmospheres of potentially habitable, Earth-size worlds."
NASA
The Trappist-1 system.
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You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site.
"The TRAPPIST-1 system provides one of the best opportunities in the next decade to study the atmospheres around Earth-size planets," said Nikole Lewis, astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.
Scientists believe the planets are could be tidally locked to their star, which means that only one side of the planet will face the star.
Spitzer, Hubble, and Kepler will help astronomers plan for follow-up studies using NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope which will launch in 2018.
The Webb telescope will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone, and other components of a planet's atmosphere. Webb will also analyze planets' temperatures and surface pressures – key factors in assessing their habitability.
