7 Earth-like planets could be best bet to find alien life

7 Earth-like planets could be best bet to find alien life

Astronomers call Trappist-1 the most incredible star system they've ever seen. A newly discovered set of exoplanets only 39 light-years away could be the perfect lab for finally proving we aren't alone.

A nearby, relatively dim little star nobody even noticed until about 20 years ago might be playing host to the most intriguing planetary party yet seen.

On Wednesday, astronomers announced that the star, Trappist-1, is circled by at least seven Earth-sized planets, including three that could have oceans of liquid water to maybe, just maybe, support life.

"Looking for life elsewhere, this system is probably our best bet as of today," said Brice-Olivier Demory, professor at the University of Bern's Center for Space and Habitability and one of the authors of a paper on the discovery published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

The team first put Trappist-1 on the map last year with the announcement it hosted at least three planets, the first exoplanets to be spotted around an ultracool dwarf star, representing a whole new promising avenue in the search for life beyond the grasp of our own sun.

Upon closer inspection and poring through data from telescopes around the world and NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the scientists realized what first appeared to be three planets is really at least seven -- and all only 39 light-years away.

"This is really the first time we have seven planets which can be called terrestrial which are in the temperate zone," astronomer Michael Gillon at the University of Liège in Belgium told reporters on a conference call. "So many is really, really surprising."

The seven planets, named Trappist-1b, c, d, e, f, g and h in order of increasing distance from their parent star, orbit much closer than all planets in our solar system, even Mercury. In fact, the astronomers on Gillon's team say the system better resembles the handful of rocky moons orbiting Jupiter. But because Trappist-1 is much smaller and cooler than our sun, it provides its more closely orbiting temperate zone planets with about as much energy as Venus, Earth and Mars get from our star.  Read More...

Google doodle celebrates NASA's Exoplanets Discovery of 7 Planets like Earth

Google celebrates NASA's discovery of 7 exoplanets like Earth through Google Doodle

Google has always made sure to celebrate every special affair around the globe.
Likewise, it has dedicated its doodle today to NASA's discovery of seven earth sized exoplanets.
In a short, comical animation, the doodle shows NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star.

The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system. All of these seven planets could have liquid water - key to life as we know it - under the right atmospheric conditions, but the chances are highest with the three in the habitable zone.
According to NASA, "This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life.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."
At about 40 light-years (235 trillion miles) from Earth, the system of planets is relatively close to us, in the constellation Aquarius. Because they are located outside of our solar system  Read More....

Google has always made sure to celebrate every special affair around the globe.
Likewise, it has dedicated its doodle today to NASA's discovery of seven earth sized exoplanets.
In a short, comical animation, the doodle shows NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star.
Google has always made sure to celebrate every special affair around the globe.
Likewise, it has dedicated its doodle today to NASA's discovery of seven earth sized exoplanets.
In a short, comical animation, the doodle shows NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star.

NASA announces discovery of seven Earth like exo planets in a single solar system

NASA claim discovery of 7 exo planets looks like Earth in a single solar system

NASA: Astronomers have identified more than 4,700 potential exoplanets in the last few decades, and you can add seven more to the list today. NASA has announced the discovery of an amazing planetary system in orbit of a nearby star consisting of seven Earth-like planets in the habitable zone. The star known as TRAPPIST-1 is a mere 39.13 light years away. It’s much smaller and cooler than our sun, but all seven of those planets are clustered in very close, which would make for an incredible view.

NASA announces discovery of seven Earth like exo planets in a single solar system

TRAPPIST-1 is what’s know as an ultracool dwarf star. These objects have a temperature under 4,400 degrees Fahrenheit (2,430 degrees Celsius) and extremely low mass (for a star). TRAPPIST-1 only about 8% the mass of our sun. So, it doesn’t put out nearly as much energy, but it will remain in this state for up to 4-5 trillion years, much longer than our sun. It can still have habitable worlds if they’re orbiting close enough, and TRAPPIST-1 appears to have plenty of them.

Three probable planets were spotted in orbit of TRAPPIST-1 in 2016 by astronomers using the TRAPPIST telescope in Chile. This was exciting enough to warrant a quick follow up by the Spitzer Space Telescope — TRAPPIST-1’s small size and low temperature was ideal for study with Spitzer’s infrared instruments. Using this telescope, astronomers were able to monitor for the transit of the planets in front of TRAPPIST-1. These transits happen frequently as the planets are all in very close orbits. Spitzer was used to confirm two of the planets, but it found that one of the previously identified objects was actually three different planets in similar orbits. It also picked out two previously undetected planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system for a total of seven. If you were on one of these planets, the other planets in the solar system would appear larger in the sky at times than the moon appears from Earth (see above for an artist’s rendering).  Read More.....