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Will We Be Able To Live On The Planets Obiting TRAPPIST-1?

By: Aleena

What is TRAPPIST-1?

Would you ever consider living on another planet? For decades scientists and astronomers have been researching about extra-terrestrial life within and outside of our solar system and whether or not there are other planets which could support human life. On 22nd of February 2017 NASA discovered something they had never discovered before.TRAPPIST-1. TRAPPIST-1 stands for Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope.

The discovery is a small, dim star in the constellation Aquarius which is less than 40 light years away from earth (235 trillion miles away). There are seven planets that are orbiting TRAPPIST-1, with orbits that range from one and a half to twenty days; they are extremely close to their star which is why their orbit is so short. Furthermore they are all close in size to Earth and are perhaps warm enough for water and the life it can sustain. The star which is located at the heart of this system shines 200 times dimmer than our sun and glows red, maybe salmon-coloured. It would take 39 years to get to TRAPPIST-1 though- only travelling at light speed, however no space craft could ever move at such a speed.

Can this newly discovered solar system support life?

The discovery of these planets all orbiting around the same star has encouraged astronomers and scientists to research further in seeking alien life and whether or not humans could live there. It has raised many hopes and the hunt for alien life could start much sooner. Extraordinarily, this is the first ever time in history that so many Earth-sized planets have been found to orbit around the same star and be around the same size as Earth or Venus or be slightly smaller. In addition because the star is so dim, the planets warm gently despite having an orbit smaller than Mercury (the planet closest to the sun).

An astrophysicist at the University of Liège in Belgium said: “The star is so small and cold that the seven planets are temperate, which means that they could have some liquid water and maybe life, by extension, on the surface.” Scientists have also said that they need to study the atmospheres before determining whether these terrestrial planets could support some life. Six of TRAPPIST-1's "exoplanets" (a planet that orbits a star other than our Sun) lie in a temperate zone where surface temperatures range from zero to 100C and of these at least three of the seven are thought to have watery oceans, greatly increasing the likelihood of there being life.

Atmosphere

Astronomers are now focusing on whether the planets have atmospheres and if they do it could reveal hints of life on the surfaces of the planets. The Hubble telescope is currently being used to research methane and water in the alien air and more complex and convincing information might be spotted by NASA’s James Webb space telescope, which is due to be launched next year and also another instrument such as the Giant Magellan Telescope which will be a ground-based observatory which will be switch on in 2023.

As the planets are so close to the dwarf stars it might not be the most conductive place for life, as Dwarf starts are known to release fierce bursts of x-rays and ultraviolet light. Scientists have predicted that the sun will go out in a few billion years however when this happens TRAPPIST-1 will still be an infant star as it burns hydrogen so slowly that it should last at least another ten trillion years, which is 700 times longer than the universe has existed, so there is plenty of time for life to evolve on the planets.