Temperate earth-sized worlds found in extraordinarily rich planetary system

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This artist's impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultra cool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. They are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces of several of them. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser Read more at: https://phys.org/news/2017-02-temperate-earth-sized-worlds-extraordinarily-rich.html#jCpThis artist's impression shows the view from the surface of one of the planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system. At least seven planets orbit this ultra cool dwarf star 40 light-years from Earth and they are all roughly the same size as the Earth. They are at the right distances from their star for liquid water to exist on the surfaces of several of them. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

Feb. 22, 2017 (PhysOrg) -- Astronomers have found a system of seven Earth-sized planets just 40 light-years away.

They were detected as they passed in front of their parent star, the dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. Three of them lie in the habitable zone and could harbour water, increasing the possibility that the system could play host to life. It has both the largest number of Earth-sized planets yet found and the largest number of worlds that could support liquid water.

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