During a news conference in Washington DC Wednesday, NASA revealed that, using the Spitzer Space Telescope, they've found seven new Earth-sized planets orbiting a star just 40 light years away from us. What's more, three of those exist within the "Goldilocks zone" which could be habitable for life. This is the first time that astronomers have discovered another solar system with seven planets roughly the same size as ours. Even more importantly, NASA figures that with the right atmospheric conditions, all seven could contain liquid surface water -- though the chances of that are highest of that on the three Goldilocks. And, should further observations uncover oxygen, methane, ozone and carbon dioxide in their atmospheres, it "would tell us there is life with 99 percent confidence," Michael Gillon, lead author of the paper and the principal investigator of the TRAPPIST exoplanet survey said during the event.
"This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life," Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the agency's Science Mission Directorate, said during the press conference. This newly discovered Trappist-1 group lies in the Aquarius system just about 235 trillion miles from our own. All seven planets are thought to be terrestrial planets like ours, rather than gas giants like Jupiter or icey dwarfs like Ceres.
Credits:
https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/22/nasa-we-found-7-earth-sized-planets-just-40-light-years-away/?utm_campaign=crowdfire&utm_content=crowdfire&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#2558988457-tw#1487886084611
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