NASA Discovers a New Solar System With 7 Earth-Like Planets: Will This Prove That There Is Life Beyond Our Earth?

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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) had recently discovered a new solar system with seven roughly Earth-sized planets that are 39 light years (234 trillion miles) away from earth.Three out of the seven planets are in prospect of holding extraterrestrial life according to the research published last Wednesday, February 22, 2017.

NASA astronomers detected that these seven Earth-sized planets are orbiting around a red dwarf star - the equivalent of our sun. It was called TRAPPIST-1.

The seven planets are believed to be not less than a billion years old. However, it is the three planets in the middle, namely TRAPPIST-1 'e', 'f' and 'g', which draws more attention because they lie within what they call the "temperate" or "goldilocks" zone. It is where temperatures are neither too hot nor cold for life to develop and are also capable of having oceans.

All of the planets were found through a method called "transit photometry," which works by watching when a planet passes or transits in front of its host star and blocking out a small amount of light. Wherein, in this case, it allows astronomers to see and learn about the planet's size. Through the use of modern technology, NASA used a telescope called TRAPPIST (TRAnsiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope) for the observation.

Although there was no concrete evidence of life existing on the planets, it might actually evolve from there. According to Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, "Answering the question 'are we alone?' is a top priority, and finding planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward towards that goal," CNN reported.

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