The new solar system discovery has got the scientific community around the edge of their seats. One question that has always puzzled humanity is “are we alone?”.
The recently discovered new solar system discovered by NASA is 39 or 40 light years away from Earth. There are seven roughly Earth-sized planets orbiting a dwarf star.
These Earth-like planets are also called exoplanets. The TRAPPIST-1 star has the seven planets revolving around its orbit. The seven newly discovered planets are pretty close to each other.
Around one out of every five Sun-like stars have an Earth-like planet revolving around them. Astronauts estimate that there may be 40 billion habitable worlds in our galaxy. Signs suggest that these three planets may support life.
The new exoplanets are revolving around a cool star which is ten times smaller than Sun. Aquarius constellation is the location identified by the newly discovered solar system.
TRAPPIST-1 was first discovered back in May 2016. At that time, NASA scientists believed that this solar system had three planets. However, upon a closer inspection, they found around seven planets revolving this star. NASA scientists discovered the new solar system because of a phenomenon called dimming.
What are exoplanets?
The history of discovering exoplanet goes back to 1992. So far, scientists have discovered 3,577 exoplanets looking somewhat similar to Earth. However, only a handful of these exoplanets has the kind of atmosphere supportive for the survival of the humanity. According to NASA, previously only three planets were as suitable for humans.
Why are we bound to discover more planets?
Scientists believe that evolution in the telescope technology has helped discover new exoplanets. A robotic telescope played an important role in the discovery of this new solar system. Liverpool John Moores University operates this robotic telescope. The scientists not only relied upon this telescope but also used several other ground instruments to discover the solar system. James Webb Space Telescope will be placed one million miles away from Earth in 2018. The new telescope is said to provide scientists with unparalleled views never before available, and they would possibly be able to detect even larger exoplanets.
