Astronomers have discovered the smallest star ever measured. It's called EBLM J0555-57Ab, it's 600 light years away, and it's about the size of Saturn. The newly discovered star is smaller than TRAPPIST-1 — a dwarf star that is known to have seven Earth-like planets in its orbit.

Why it matters:

The systems around small, ultracool stars like these are ideal targets in the search for habitable planets but they are smaller and dimmer than stars like the Sun, making them harder to find.