Ready to go on a long, long vacation? Well, NASA has discovered not one, not two, but as many as seven planets that could be probable candidates for sustaining life. What’s more, they are situated less than 40 light years away — which is a small distance in the vastness of the Universe.
The seven planets are situated in a neighboring solar system called the TRAPPIST-1. The TRAPPIST-1 has an ultra-cool dwarf star at its center and the planets orbiting around it have both a warm climate and a rocky terrain. As you are probably aware, these two are important conditions for life as we know it, to exist.
Certainly, alien life could have evolved in an altogether different manner somewhere, with life forms that can exist in the hottest temperatures and that are not carbon-based. However, our own hunt for alien life-forms is pushed by our own characteristics and these seven planets appear conducive for them upon first impressions.
Like we already mentioned, the TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool dwarf star. Which means that its temperature is much lower than that of our own sun. To compensate for this lesser heat, the 7 planets are situated much closer to their Sun. So, while the planet nearest to the TRAPPIST has a orbital period or a year if you would have it that way, of a little over one day, The planet farthest away on the other hand, has an orbital period of somewhere around 20 days.
The planets were discovered after researchers, including Michael Gillon from the University of Liège were studying the TRAPPIST-1 and confirmed the existence of the planets after a flickering in the light coming from the ultracool dwarf occurred due to obstruction by the passage of these planets around their Sun.
Again, do not expect to be tripping your way to these planets for spending your vacations anytime soon. For one, there is a only remote chance that all other factors would be suitable as well and that the planets would in fact turn out to be conducive to life. Secondly, it takes light roughly 40 years to travel there.
So, until we develop technologies that allow us to travel faster — which is theoretically impossible at present — or develop wormholes or something, we are going to be spending our lives on earth — and if we are very lucky and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s plans pan out, perhaps on Mars.
In the meanwhile, we leave you to watch the following video from NASA:
Oh, and since we are a highly advanced civilization that has developed technologies like VR and AR, you can also watch an artist’s rendering of one of the planets of the TRAPPIST system in 360 degree VR, right below:
Meanwhile, NASA will now spend its resources and facilities into determining if this cluster of planets have other attributes conducive to life, such as water.
Speaking on the topic, Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington, said:
The 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.
It is not certain that these planets will have life. However, they have as high a probability of being conducive to life, as any other system we have found. This also goes to show that as vast as the universe is, alien civilizations that have grown on some other earth-like planet, are all to possible.
