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  • All About Space

    ASK Space

    Aug 12, 2021 5 minutes

    HUNT FOR LIFE

    What makes the TRAPPIST-1 system an interesting target for exoplanet research?

    TRAPPIST-1 is unique because it is currently the only system for which we could probe the atmospheres of planets that are similar to Earth in terms of size, mass and irradiation received from the star. This facilitated access to small planets is enabled by the size of the host star, which is only marginally larger than our Solar System’s Jupiter.

    This remarkable trait makes it 100 times easier to detect the atmospheres of planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 compared to the same planets orbiting a Sun-like star. While the diminutive nature of the TRAPPIST-1 star renders it very faint, it is not a limitation for large space observatories, such as the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that is scheduled for launch later this year.

    We will learn a lot about the seven planets of the TRAPPIST-1 system with the JWST. No

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