NASA has announced its discovery of the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star. Scientists believe three of the exoplanets are located in what they call a “habitable zone”, the area around a parent star where a rocky planet is most likely to have liquid water. The discovery sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system.
“This discovery is exciting in that it supports the idea that Earth-like planets are common in the galaxy and there may actually be a mind-boggling number of planets similar to the Earth, said Dr. Doug Roberts, an astronomer and VP of Technology for the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. “The star these planets orbit is ten times smaller and much cooler than our Sun; the remarkable aspect of the system is the large number – seven – of Earth-like planets, all of which have surface temperatures that allow liquid water to exist.”
Roberts said the discovery will have an immediate impact on work being done by astronomers around the world. “It was through the work of a team of astronomers using various telescopes all over the globe that this system was discovered. This system will certainly be a target of future observations from the next generation of telescopes such as the James Webb Space Telescope.”
