There is always a fascination with finding other habitable planets in the universe, and this was made more plausible with the discovery of seven exoplanets that were found around the star named TRAPPIST-1. It seemed great in the beginning, but after further research, it was discovered that the star may have burned off the atmospheres of the planets. But, never fear, there is new hope after a study identified something on one of the planets, TRAPPIST-1e, that could help sustain life. What is it? It potentially has an ocean on its surface!
The TRAPPIST-1 system has seven planets, and three of them are located in a ‘habitable zone’ which means that they are in reasonable proximity to the central star that they orbit. The main concern is that it is believed the star went through a very intense beginning which, perhaps, burnt away the atmosphere and removed the moisture a long time ago from the surrounding planets.
When studying the planets, it was noted that the planet, which is the fourth closest to the star, could perhaps be habitable. Through research and advanced models, they predicted the fate of each world, and they realized that TRAPPIST-1e may not have been affected by the star and could still have an ocean on its surface.
According to research, TRAPPIST-1b is the closest to the star which means that it is way too hot! The C and D planets get more energy from the star than Venus and Earth do from our sun, and they assume these are more Venus-like than Earth-like. The other planets (F,G, and H) could also be Venus-like or frozen because of their distance from the star and dependency on the water on the planet.
This leaves TRAPPIST-1e as the most likely for life! It’s time to explore more exoplanets and see what there is to discover, especially with exciting technology like the James Webb Space Telescope.