NASA: Newly Discovered Planets Could Hold Life Forms
For the first time ever, astronomers have discovered a system of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting around a single star.
The finding was announced by officials from NASA – the U.S. space agency – and other research team members.
Scientists said three of the newly discovered planets are in the so-called habitable zone. This is the area around the parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water, and possibly life.
Thomas Zurbuchen is an associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. He said the discovery could play an important role in finding new environments that could support life forms.
Scientists say further study is needed to determine whether these rocky, terrestrial planets could support any life forms. But they agree that the new discovery shows the possibility that many other Earth-size planets could be out there.
Thomas Zurbuchen said the latest findings provide valuable information about other worlds and what they may look like. But he added that much remains unknown and will only become clear with future discoveries.
Some of this future research will be completed with the help of new advanced observation tools NASA has yet to launch.
One of those is the James Webb Space Telescope – a large infrared telescope with a nearly 7-meter mirror. It is scheduled to launch in October 2018.
Three planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 (artist's impression).
