Nasa have discovered six inner planets which can support life - not too hot and not too cold. YouTube / Global News
Turns out it wasn't just dust on the telescope lens, Nasa astronomers have spotted seven Earth-size planets around a nearby star, some or all of which could harbour water and possibly life.
Google has marked the Earth-shattering discovery with a Doodle, featuring the seven planets squeezing into viewon the earth's telescope, reports Telegraph.
What is TRAPPIST-1?
TRAPPIST-1 stands for Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope. The discovery is a small, dim star in the constellation Aquarius, less than 40 light-years from Earth, or 235 trillion miles away, according to Nasa and the Belgian-led research team who announced its discovery on Wednesday.
Seven planets circle Trappist-1, with orbits ranging from one and a half to 20 days. If Trappist-1 were our sun, all these planets would fit inside the orbit of Mercury.
No other star system known contains such a large number of Earth-sized and probably rocky planets.
All are about the same size as Earth or Venus, or slightly smaller. Because the parent star is so dim, the planets are warmed gently despite having orbits much smaller than that of Mercury, the planet closest to the sun.
Scientists said they need to study the atmospheres before determining whether these rocky, terrestrial planets could support some sort of life.
What do the planets and solar system look like?
As well as being in tight orbits, the TRAPPIST-1 planets are unusually close to one another, conjuring an image straight out of science fiction.
If Trappist-1 were our sun, all seven planets would be inside Mercury's orbit. Mercury is the innermost planet of our own solar system.
From the viewpoint of someone standing on the surface of one of the planets, some of the other worlds would appear larger than the moon in the Earth's sky.
Gazing up, it would be possible to see the geological features, oceans and clouds of your planetary neighbours.
The ultracool star at the heart of this system would shine 200 times dimmer than our sun, a perpetual twilight as we know it. And the star would glow red - maybe salmon-colored, the researchers speculate.
Why all the excitement?
Three of TRAPPIST-1's "exoplanets" are smack dab in the so-called habitable zone, also known as the Goldilocks zone, where conditions are just right for watery oceans - not too much and not too little stellar energy - greatly increasing the likelihood of life.
No other star system known contains such a large number of Earth-sized and probably rocky planets.
All are about the same size as Earth or Venus, or slightly smaller. Because the parent star is so dim, the planets are warmed gently despite having orbits much smaller than that of Mercury, the planet closest to the sun.
Scientists said they need to study the atmospheres before determining whether these rocky, terrestrial planets could support some sort of life.
But just because a planet is in this sweet spot, doesn't mean life exists or ever did.
The discovery, reported in the journal Nature, was made by astronomers using Nasa's exoplanet-hunting Spitzer Space Telescope.
The telescope operates at the infrared wavelengths which glow brightest from TRAPPIST-1, and can detect the tiny dimming that occurs when a passing or "transiting" planet blocks out light from its star.
Spitzer's data allowed the team to measure precisely the sizes of the seven planets and estimate the masses and densities of six of them.
The Spitzer was launched in 2003, and was never meant to continue in space for this long but the telescope is still making discoveries beyond what was imagined.
It follows the earth's orbit around the sun, but travels slightly slower, so over time it gets further away from the earth. It is now in its "final" phase, which lasts until 2018.
What does TRAPPIST-1 stand for?
Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope.
What is an exoplanet anyway?
An exoplanet is any planet that is outside of our solar system - ie anything that is not orbiting our star. The first exoplanet was discovered in 1988, but over 3,500 have been discovered since then.
Only a tiny fraction of these have been deemed capable of supporting life in any way. Oceans and closeness to a star are two factors that scientists take into account.
Scientists need to study the atmospheres of these almost assuredly rocky planets before drawing any conclusions about water and life.
The Hubble Space Telescope already is on the case and the still-under-construction James Webb Space Telescope will join in once it's launched next year.
The Webb will search for gases that might be a byproduct of life: oxygen, ozone and methane. Scientists say it should take five years to get a handle on all these atmospheres, and figure out whether water - and maybe life - are present.
Based on data this is what the planetary system may look like. Photo / NASA/JPL-Caltech
What the experts are saying
• Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at Nasa, said:
This gives us a hint that finding a second earth is not just a matter of if, but when.
You can just imagine how many worlds are out there that could have a habitable ecosystem that we can explore.
• Michael Gillon, an astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium and the leader of an international team said:
This is the first time so many planets of this kind are found around the same star.
"The Trappist-1 planets make the search for life in the galaxy imminent," said Sara Seager, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not a member of the research team. "For the first time ever, we don't have to speculate. We just have to wait and then make very careful observations and see what is in the atmospheres of the Trappist planets.
• British astronomer Dr Chris Copperwheat, from Liverpool John Moores University, who co-led the international team, said:
The discovery of multiple rocky planets with surface temperatures which allow for liquid water make this amazing system an exciting future target in the search for life.
• Amaury H. M. J. Triaud, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge and member of research team said:
I think that we have made a crucial step toward finding if there is life out there.
Here, if life managed to thrive and releases gases similar to that we have on Earth, then we will know.
• Dr Seth Shostak, an astronomer at Seti Institute in Mountain View, California, said:
If you're looking for complex biology - intelligent aliens that might take a long time to evolve from pond scum - older could be better.
It seems a good bet that the majority of clever beings populating the universe look up to see a dim, reddish sun hanging in their sky. And at least they wouldn't have to worry about sun block.
Planet Hop?
It may be jumping the gun, but Nasa has produced a 'travel poster' for the TRAPPIST-1 system:
This poster imagines what a trip to TRAPPIST-1e might be like. Poster / NASA/JPL-Caltech
And if no life is ultimately found on any of the planets
It's not all bad news - if no life is found, scientists will still have learned more about what has stopped it developing. And the search will continue...
