Looking at Trappist-1
POSTED BY: Anonymouse
UPDATED: Tuesday, November 14, 2017 13:55
VIEWED: 7100
PAGE 1 of 1
Anyone heard of this? It's a planetary system just 39.5 light-years yonder out around Aquarius way - seven Earth-type planets, three of which are in the star's Goldilocks Zone. Their orbits are tidally locked owing to an absurdly complex resonance chain, resulting in long-term stability. Okay, they're orbiting a red dwarf, and a flaring one at that, so they ain't likely to be too hospitable when it comes to supporting life. But that ain't the point!
This is a real solar system, not something out of SF! Suddenly the 'verse doesn't look quite so unlikely any more, does it? Nor does the prospect of Earth-like planets out there; seems they're a lot more common than scientists once thought.
'course, if you accept the Principle of Mediocrity, it shouldn't come as a surprise. :)
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I'm not sure if this will come out, but I'm trying to post a picture of the known universe with a arrow pointing to our place in it.
Wow, that right there says it all. We're a dot, a tiny dot in the grand scheme of things.
SGG
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Mmm, shades of the Total Perspective Vortex!
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