New Study Suggests at least Four Planets in Trappist-1 System is Capable of Supporting Alien Life

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Astronomers report that at least four planets in the newly discovered Trappist-1 system are capable of supporting alien life. The Trappist-1 system is first thought to have three of the seven Earth-like planets which could be habitable but the latest research implies that the number could increase.

According to the Daily Mail, the planets in the Trappist-1 system which were recently thought to be "icy wastelands" could be warmed up by the volcanic hydrogen thrown into the atmosphere. The astronomers from Cornell University suggest that if the planet is warm enough, and combined with the greenhouse warming effect of hydrogen, water, and carbon dioxide, the habitable zones in the said system could extend by 30 to 60 percent.

Ramses Ramirez, lead author and research associate at Cornell's Carl Sagan Institute, reveals that the presence of volcanoes on the icy planets in the Trappist-1 system increases the chances of finding alien life. "On Frozen planets, any potential life would be buried under layers of ice, which would make it really had to spot with telescopes," says Ramirez.

The Vox reports that the volcanic hydrogen in the planet's atmosphere is very light and could be used by researchers to detect possible signs of life. The hydrogen in the air of an exoplanet can increase the signal monitored by astronomers, allowing easier detection of the makeup of the atmosphere when compared to planets without hydrogen.

While the seven planets in the Trappist-1 system could have liquid water, 3 planets, in particular, 1e, 1f, and 1g, are positioned to have the correct atmospheric conditions to accommodate oceans of water. Dr. Michael Gillon suggests that the planets' different molecules and the relative makeup of atmosphere would yield more data which would lead the researchers to determine whether biological life exists on these planets.

The James Webb Space Telescope set to launch in 2018 and the European Extremely Large Telescope to be operational in 2024 could help astronomers detect signs of life in far-flung regions of space. One of the researchers suggests that finding rocky planets in the Goldilocks zone, the area in which life could exist increases the odds of finding life.

The Trappist-1 system is located 40 light-years from Earth. The Trappist-1 system is located in the constellation Aquarius. The seven planets orbit the Trappist-1, an ultra-cool dwarf star a tenth of the mass of our sun.