begin quote from:
Scientists find three more planets that could have life
| New York Daily News | - |
Maybe
we're not alone. Scientists at the University of Liège in Belgium just
found three Earth-like exoplanets that could potentially hold life.
Scientists find three more planets that could have life
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, May 2, 2016, 3:50 PM
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Scientists at the University of Liège in Belgium just found three Earth-like exoplanets that could potentially hold life.
The planets, which orbit a star dubbed TRAPPIST-1 after the telescope in Chile that discovered it, were discovered because they created a slight dimming every time they passed in front of their host star in the constellation Aquarius, according to work published Monday in Nature.
Researchers used the star’s dimming to figure out how far the worlds are from their star. Measures like size and distance can be used to figure out a planet’s likely composition, according to the Washington Post.
Because they’re located close to their sun, the planets all have short orbit times — only a few days per trip.
Unlike Earth, two of the planets are tidally locked, which means that the same side always faces the system’s sun. Thus one side is toasty and well-lit, while the other side is cold and forever dark.
Two of the planets are probably too close to the sun to have water, and they also have higher radiation levels than Earth.
The third planet’s exact orbit isn’t clear yet, so that world could be the right distance from the sun to have water.
In theory, though, all three planets could be habitable if tidal forces melt ice and generate water.
The trio of brave new worlds isn’t terribly far in galactic terms — the solar system is just about 40 light years away from us.
M. Kornmesser/ESO/AP The artist's impression provided by European Southern Observatory shows an imagined view from the surface one of the three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth.
Because the star the planets orbit is relatively dim, it could be easier to learn more about the planets themselves, Gillon said.
"The atmospheric composition can be studied in detail with current technology, including the possible existence of chemical disequilibria of biological origins," he said
"For all other potentially habitable exoplanets found so far, detailed atmospheric studies were not possible with our current technology, because of their larger and brighter host stars that would swamp any atmospheric signals from the planets."
Researchers can now use spectroscopy to learn more about the presence of particular elements in the atmosphere of the newly discovered trio.
Fortunately, the quick orbit times make research easier because the planets circle their star so quickly.
Scientists are optimistic that this discovery of Earth-like planets around an ultra-cool dwarf star could hint at more such discoveries in the future.
"While such a 'cold' star might sound exotic, many, if not most, of the stars in our Milky Way Galaxy are of this cool, red, small and dim variety," Adam Burgasser, one of the researchers involved in the study, said in a press release.
"If Earth-like planets around these stars turn out to be common, there may be many more habitable planets out there than current estimates predict."
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