NASA Introduces Newly Discovered Planets

Skip 39 light-years across our galaxy, and you’ll arrive at Trappist-1, an ultracool dwarf star with a band of special followers. This dim star hosts seven Earth-like planets within its habitable zone, according to a study published today in the journal Nature. Exoplanets are a dime a dozen these days, but due to unique properties in this exosolar system, the new discovery may usher in a movement in the hunt for habitable worlds — one where astrophysicists can ascertain the presence of life without traveling across the cosmos.

On February 22, 2017, NASA hosted a news conference on the discovery. A panel of experts, which included Sara Seager, Member (1999–2002), explained the significance of these findings to the study of life outside of our world and what they suggest about the future of astronomy.

Read more and view the conference at PBS NewsHour.