Turns out it wasn’t just dust on the telescope lens, Nasa astronomers have spotted seven Earth-size planets around a nearby star, some or all of which could harbour water and possibly life.

Google has marked the Earth-shattering discovery with a Doodle, featuring the seven planets squeezing into view on the earth's telescope.

What is TRAPPIST-1?

TRAPPIST-1 stands for Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope. The discovery is a small, dim star in the constellation Aquarius, less than 40 light-years from Earth, or 235 trillion miles away, according to Nasa and the Belgian-led research team who announced its discovery on Wednesday.