Seven Earth-sized planets discovered
By Morgan Annable
For many years, humans have been fascinated by the prospect of extraterrestrial life. We create and consume stories about aliens large and small, friendly and terrifying, from E.T. to Chewbacca to Zaphod Beeblebrox. On Feb. 22, 2017, a NASA press release announced the discovery of seven Earth-size planets circling the ultra-cool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1; according to the New York Times this is “the first realistic opportunity to search for signs of alien life outside the solar system.”
TRAPPIST-1 is located approximately 40 light years away from Earth. This distance (equal to 235 trillion miles) may sound like a lot, but to astronomers it is actually a relatively short distance. In fact, this batch of planets is close enough to study in detail.
This discovery is multiple years in the making, and has truly been an international effort. The exoplanet system is named for the acronym of the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope, which is located in Chile. In May 2016, Michaël Gillon of the University of Liège in Belgium led a team of astronomers to the discovery of three of the planets in the system, using the Chilean telescope. The recent discovery of additional planets was made using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope with the help of ground-based telescopes such as the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, also located in Chile.
“We’re definitely all working overtime now,” NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies astrobiologist Nancy Kiang said.
There is still substantial debate regarding the possibility of life beyond Earth, and popular opinion within the scientific community continues to swing back and forth. This newest discovery, according to Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA’s D.C. headquarters, might just unlock new pieces of the puzzle.
“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,” Zurbuchen said.
Currently, expert opinions are swinging back toward “no” on whether red dwarf planets can sustain life, primarily because red dwarf stars “are extremely active in their early years — shooting off potentially lethal flares and bursts of radiation,” according to a NASA release. However, some scientists are still optimistic. Tom Barclay, a senior research scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center, suggested that the hypothetical lifeforms on these planets might be able to adapt to stellar radiation.
“We certainly see life on Earth capable of hibernating for very extended periods of time,” Barclay said. “We see that life goes into a state where it shuts down, sometimes for years or decades. So I think we shouldn’t, probably, rule it out, but we should put a lot of effort into studying whether this is a place where we think life could thrive.”
Long story short: No one knows. Yet.
Featured photo by Jaden Moon // AS Review