Get ready for some next-level daydreaming: NASA has just released a retro-style travel poster for the newly discovered TRAPPIST-1 star system.
The star system is home to seven newly discovered Earth-like exoplanets, some of which may have the ability to support life. The discovery has experts demonstrably giddy. “Answering the question ‘are we alone’ is a top science priority, and finding so many planets like these for the first time in the habitable zone is a remarkable step forward toward that goal,” NASA’s Thomas Zurbuchen said in a statement.
In describing the vivid poster, NASA makes a good case for grabbing a suitcase and leaving the planet:
“Some 40 light-years from Earth, a planet called TRAPPIST-1e offers a heart-stopping view: brilliant objects in a red sky, looming like larger and smaller versions of our own moon. But these are no moons. They are Earth-sized planets in a spectacular planetary system outside our own. These seven rocky worlds huddle around their small, dim, red star, like a family around a campfire. Any of them could harbor liquid water, but the planet shown here, fourth from the TRAPPIST-1 star, is in the habitable zone, the area around the star where liquid water is most likely to be detected.”
Download a printable version of the poster here.
All images courtesy of NASA-JPL/Caltech
February 23, 2017 – 12:30pm