NASA recently announced its Spitzer Space Telescope has located the universe’s first known set of seven Earth-size planets orbiting a single star. Planets such as these are called “exoplanets”, meaning they are located beyond our solar system—though in the inconceivably grand scale of the universe, these exoplanets are relatively close to Earth, a mere 40 light-years away. Making this ground-breaking discovery even more exciting is the fact that three of these planets lie directly in the “habitable zone”, the region around a star where rocky planets are most likely to contain water. The small, low-heat star these exoplanets orbit has been named Trappist-1. Thomas Zurbuchen, an administrator at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, explains, “this discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life. 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.”

NASA’s 360 Surface View of an Exoplanet near Trappist-1

http://www.mirror.co.uk/science/exoplanet-discovery-take-360-degree-9901232

#Exoplanets #SpaceLife #WonderfulWorld