2017-02-24 13:28:00

(Vatican Radio) The National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States – NASA – made an announcement this week about a major astronomical discovery: seven planets orbiting a star, three of which are in the so-called “habitable zone” of the solar system some 40 light-years from Earth.

Scientists have named the star TRAPPIST 1 – an acronym for the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope, which is located in Chile and was the instrument chiefly used in the original discovery of the system, the planets of which are identified simply as TRAPPIST b-h.

No other known system contains so many Earth-sized and probably rocky planets.

Scientists say they need to study the planets’ atmospheres before determining whether they are capable of supporting life.