In news that’s pretty much blowing our minds, scientists at Nasa have announced they’ve found a new solar system and three out of the seven planets “could support life”.
The seven ‘Earth-sized’ worlds have been found orbiting a single star 39 light-years away.
They’ve been called the “holy grail for planet-hunting astronomers”, because three are rocky like Earth, sit within the “temperate zone” AND have the capacity for oceans – all things needed for life to flourish.
The seven planets have been discovered orbiting nearby dwarf star ‘Trappist-1’, which, we’re sorry, sounds like a TV show in the making.
An extrapolation of the TRAPPIST-1 red dwarf planets compared to the rocky worlds in our own Solar System
This discovery is a massive deal as no other star system has ever been found to contain so many Earth-sized planets.
British astronomer Dr Chris Copperwheat, who was part of the international team, spoke to The Independent about the magnitude of their discovery:
“The discovery of multiple rocky planets with surface temperatures which allow for liquid water make this amazing system an exciting future target in the search for life.”
More as we get it but the truth is out there!
