Breaking News: TRAPPIST-1 Star System Contains Two Potentially Habitable Planets

It’s been less than a year since astronomers detected seven planets around TRAPPIST-1, a remarkable star system located 39 light years from Earth. New research suggests life could take root on at least two of these planets, thanks to a fortuitous orbital quirk.

TRAPPIST-1 has more planets than any other system we know of outside our own. These seven planets, all of which are roughly the size of Earth, are in orbit around an ultracool M dwarf—a small, red star that gets no warmer than 2,430 celsius or 4,400 F, which is less than half the heat our Sun produces. 

New research published in Astronomy & Astrophysics identifies two planets around TRAPPIST-1 as the most likely to harbor life, including one that may even feature a vast ocean of water. GIZMODO (Article by George Dvorsky 

Read more here: 

https://gizmodo.com/trappist-1-star-s... 

https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.05641 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRAPPIST-1 

http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/images... 

Clips, images credit: Spitzer Space Telescope & NASA