OurSpitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Three of these planets are firmly located in an area called the habitable zone, where liquid water is most likely to exist on a rocky planet.
Assisted by several ground-based telescopes, Spitzer confirmed the existence of two of these planets and discovered five additional ones, increasing the number of known planets in the system to seven.
This is the FIRST time three terrestrial planets have been found in the habitable zone of a star, and this is the FIRST time we have been able to measure both the masses and the radius for habitable zone Earth-sized planets.
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.
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, these planets are scientifically known as exoplanets. To clarify, exoplanets are planets outside our solar system that orbit a sun-like star.
In this animation, you can see the planets orbiting the star, with the green area representing the famous habitable zone, defined as the range of distance to the star for which an Earth-like planet is the most likely to harbor abundant liquid water on its surface. Planets e, f and g fall in the habitable zone of the star.
Using Spitzer data, the team precisely measured the sizes of the seven planets and developed first estimates of the masses of six of them. The mass of the seventh and farthest exoplanet has not yet been estimated.
For comparison…if our sun was the size of a basketball, the TRAPPIST-1 star would be the size of a golf ball.
Based on their densities, all of the TRAPPIST-1 planets are likely to be rocky. Further observations will not only help determine whether they are rich in water, but also possibly reveal whether any could have liquid water on their surfaces.
The sun at the center of this system is classified as an ultra-cool dwarf and is so cool that liquid water could survive on planets orbiting very close to it, closer than is possible on planets in our solar system. All seven of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary orbits are closer to their host star than Mercury is to our sun.
The planets also are very close to each other. How close? Well, if a person was standing on one of the planet’s surface, they could gaze up and potentially see geological features or clouds of neighboring worlds, which would sometimes appear larger than the moon in Earth’s sky.
The planets may also be tidally-locked to their star, which means the same side of the planet is always facing the star, therefore each side is either perpetual day or night. This could mean they have weather patterns totally unlike those on Earth, such as strong wind blowing from the day side to the night side, and extreme temperature changes.
Because most TRAPPIST-1 planets are likely to be rocky, and they are very close to one another, scientists view the Galilean moons of Jupiter – lo, Europa, Callisto, Ganymede – as good comparisons in our solar system. All of these moons are also tidally locked to Jupiter. The TRAPPIST-1 star is only slightly wider than Jupiter, yet much warmer.
How Did the Spitzer Space Telescope Detect this System?
Spitzer, an infrared telescope that trails Earth as it orbits the sun, was well-suited for studying TRAPPIST-1 because the star glows brightest in infrared light, whose wavelengths are longer than the eye can see. Spitzer is uniquely positioned in its orbit to observe enough crossing (aka transits) of the planets in front of the host star to reveal the complex architecture of the system.
Every time a planet passes by, or transits, a star, it blocks out some light. Spitzer measured the dips in light and based on how big the dip, you can determine the size of the planet. The timing of the transits tells you how long it takes for the planet to orbit the star.
The TRAPPIST-1 system provides one of the best opportunities in the next decade to study the atmospheres around Earth-size planets. Spitzer, Hubble and Kepler will help astronomers plan for follow-up studies using our upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2018. With much greater sensitivity, Webb will be able to detect the chemical fingerprints of water, methane, oxygen, ozone and other components of a planet’s atmosphere.
At 40 light-years away, humans won’t be visiting this system in person anytime soon…that said…this poster can help us imagine what it would be like:
If you have any further questions feel free to ask us we will get to them right away. We look forward to viewing your entries as they arrive. Thank you!
We’re delighted to announce that The Keeper’s Codex: A Dragon Age Fairy Tale Anthology is now available for pre-orders from February 7 to March 7!
This book features 60+ pages of illustrations and stories recontextualizing the lore-rich realm and characters of Thedas through the lens of real world fairy tales, folklore, and mythology.
The Keeper’s Codex is available in the following bundles:
The “Cancelled” Puzzleshipping Anthology made by @auroblaze and myself is no longer Cancelled! Because ya’ll still wanted it, so here we go!!
Given the choice, Atem chose to live life with his Partner and friends. This Puzzleshipping Anthology contains 14 comics (2 Full Colour, 12 Ink/Greyscale) of a slice of the lives they make together.
Rated M | for sexual themes and situations (nothing graphic)
Make sure if you like it to subscribe and leave likes or comments on your reading platform of choice!! And if you really liked it share with your friends (if you think they’d like it too!)
My last couple of posts have been about neighborhoods with more than one type of (working, real, actual) road in them. It does take a decent amount of SimPE fiddling to get this working correctly, so be warned, but here’s how you can add a second kind of road to a neighborhood.
One blurb, one winter trope, one guy, each day of December ❄️ i’ve finally picked tropes for all of the players, so have a look below to see which prompt will be with your favourite! I’m about halfway through writing them all - still got a way to go, but it’s been the most fun.
It’s going to be a winter wonderland ride to remember!
1. Tyson Barrie - Mistletoe 2. William Nylander - Seeing your breath 3. Chris Kreider - Christmas baking 4. Morgan Reilly - Travelling home 5. Laurent Brossoit - Nighttime snow 6. Leon Draisaitl - Christmas market 7. Frederik Andersen - Evergreens 8. Tyler Seguin - Tracks in the snow 9. Erik Johnson - Snowed in 10. Andre Burakovsky - Lost in a storm 11. Colton Parayko - Christmas sweaters 12. Andrei Svechnikov - Snowball fight 13. Cale Makar - Holidays movies 14. Elias Pettersson -Walk in the snow 15. Mika Zibanejad - Hot chocolate 16. Kevin Hayes - Building a snowman 17. Nico Hischier - Wrapping presents 18. Matthew Tkachuk - Blanket nest 19. Ryan Graves - Winter spices 20. Joel Farabee - Christmas music 21. Jacob Markstrom - Decorating the house 22. Miro Heiskanen - Work party 23. Roope Hintz - Chapped lips 24. Mitch Marner - Mittens 25. Dougie Hamilton - Curled up by the fire 26. Tyson Jost - Waking up early 27. Jamie Oleksiak - Ice Skating 28. Nathan MacKinnon - Renting a winter cabin 29. Mikko Rantanen - Frosted windows 30. Jeff Skinner - Bundled up 31. Sidney Crosby - New Year’s Eve
![prycroft:OH MY GOD[x]](https://64.media.tumblr.com/59d7c0933c31eb1098cb73a7e915fee2/tumblr_ndcki6KAk51qfx9syo1_1280.png "prycroft:OH MY GOD[x]")
