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Planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 may have water:
Context:
- According to scientists, the Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool TRAPPIST-1 dwarf star 40 light-years away may have substantial amounts of water and could be habitable.
Introduction:
- An international team of astronomers used the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope to estimate whether there might be water on the seven planets orbiting in the nearby TRAPPIST-1 planetary.
- The results suggest that the outer planets of the system might still harbour substantial amounts of water.
- This includes the three planets within the habitable zone of the star, lending further weight to the possibility that they may indeed be habitable.
- In February this year, astronomers had announced the discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting the ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, 40 light-years away.
- Scientists used the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble telescope to study the amount of ultraviolet radiation received by the individual planets of the system.
