A fewmonths ago , stargazer discovered an unbelievable wandering system just 40 lightheaded - years away with three planet , TRAPPIST-1 , one of which orb in the headliner ’s habitable zona . Now a different squad has confirmed the initial thought process that the satellite are just about the same sizing as Earth .
Our tool are not good enough yet to directly observe most exoplanets , so to figure their properties we need to make trusted we read the legion champion well . TRAPPIST-1 has well - defined holding , but astronomers were n’t sure if it had a companion star , which would have changed the estimate sizes of the planet .
A team led by Steve Howell from NASA ’s Ames Research Center used the Gemini South Observatory in Chile to found if there ’s more than one principal in the organization . In a newspaper , bring out in theAstrophysical Journal Letters , the investigator confirmed that the system does n’t appear to have a small star topology or brown dwarf as a companion .
If the stargazer were estimating the property of the scheme thinking they were seeing a exclusive star when two were present , they could get the size of the exoplanets wrong by more than a factor of two . These observations therefore confirm that the three planet are indeed Earth - size , as primitively estimate .
" Knowing that a tellurian - size of it potentially rocky planet orbits in the habitable zone of a superstar only 40 unaccented - year from the Earth is an awe-inspiring finding , " Howell say in astatement .
“ The TRAPPIST-1 organisation will continue to be studied in great item as these transiting exoplanets declare oneself one of the best chances to qualify the atmosphere of an alien world . "
The next round of observation for this absorbing organization will start afterward this class , when the planet - hunting observatoryKeplerwill take up a elaborate monitoring campaign for about 75 daytime , as part of its K2 commission .
The exact measuring will earmark for better estimate of the belongings of the exoplanets , but it will also look for other possible planets orbit the system . TRAPPIST-1 will definitely be a telescope target for many years to come .
