Star system with seven Earth-like planets found

Trappist-1, which could support alien life is just 39 light years away

Astronomers have spotted a star system with planets that could support life just 39 light years away. Seven Earth-like planets have been discovered orbiting nearby dwarf star “Trappist-1”, and all of them could have water at their surface, one of the key components of life.

Three of the planets have such good conditions, that scientists say life may have already evolved on them. Researchers claim that they will know whether or not there is life on any of the planets within a decade, and said ‘this is just the beginning.’

No other star system discovered before has been found to have such a large number of Earth-sized planets. The planets likely have rocky compositions like Earth, are around the same size as our planet, and six have surface temperatures between 0-100°C (32-212°F). This gives these planets some of the vital atmospheric conditions needed to grow biological life.

The researchers suggest that three of the seven planets, found in the system’s “habitable zone”, could have oceans of water with life evolving on them already.

Lead-author and an astronomer at the University of Liège, Belgium, MichaëlGillon, said: ‘We now have seven planets that we can study in detail for life, and this is something we are already doing. People will hear more and more about this system in the coming months and years.”