Today, if you are lucky enough to live in the southern hemisphere, there will be an annular solar eclipse. It is going on right now.
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2017-february-26
26 February 2017
Annular Solar Eclipse on February 26, 2017
25 February 2017
Planetary System around TRAPPIST-1
On February 22, 2017, scientists announced that there were at least seven terrestrial planets orbiting around TRAPPIST-1. Three of them are within the habitable zone. What does this mean for us?
We should learn a little about TRAPPIST-1. It is an M8V star in the constellation Aquarius, approximately 39.5 light-years (12.1 parsecs) from Earth. As an M8V star, it is smaller and cooler than Earth. In 2015, the first three Earth-sized exoplanets were discovered around the star. It wasn't until the recent announcement that they confirmed three of the planets were in the habitable zone. The habitable zone is the zone around a star where liquid water can be found. Look at the post about Earth-like planets to see why both are important.
For a star like TRAPPIST-1, the habitable zone is much closer to the star than it would be for Earth. It is likely that life might be on these planets? No, because these planets are so close to the parent star, and TRAPPIST-1 is very active, if these planets had any atmospheres at one time, they have likely been stripped away. If any life exists, it will be primitive in nature, one-celled lifeforms, if any.
We should learn a little about TRAPPIST-1. It is an M8V star in the constellation Aquarius, approximately 39.5 light-years (12.1 parsecs) from Earth. As an M8V star, it is smaller and cooler than Earth. In 2015, the first three Earth-sized exoplanets were discovered around the star. It wasn't until the recent announcement that they confirmed three of the planets were in the habitable zone. The habitable zone is the zone around a star where liquid water can be found. Look at the post about Earth-like planets to see why both are important.
For a star like TRAPPIST-1, the habitable zone is much closer to the star than it would be for Earth. It is likely that life might be on these planets? No, because these planets are so close to the parent star, and TRAPPIST-1 is very active, if these planets had any atmospheres at one time, they have likely been stripped away. If any life exists, it will be primitive in nature, one-celled lifeforms, if any.
Image courtesy of NASA
As shown in the above image, these are all considered terrestrial planets. They have radii and densities comparable to Earth. They are made up of mostly refractory elements.
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