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“Are we alone in the universe?”
The question has baffled the global scientific community for decades. Organisations like NASA’s SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) have been working tirelessly, exploring all the possibilities, looking under every rock in this vast expanse for even a hint of alien life. However, till date, definitive proof remains non-existent.
Most recently, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope has found not just one but SEVEN Earth-like planets revolving around a single star.
Moreover, three of these planets are located in what is known as the ‘goldilocks zone’ and are highly likely to contain liquid water.
NASA made the thrilling announcement on Twitter yesterday which garnered over 100,000 retweets!
New record! We’ve found 7 Earth-sized planets around a single star outside our solar system; 3 in habitable zone: https://t.co/GgBy5QOTpK pic.twitter.com/NEavRSXDU2
— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2017
The star system has been named ‘TRAPPIST-1’ and is located just 40 light years away from Earth (which is relatively close).
Further to this, NASA even tweeted a 360° virtual tour of one of the newly discovered planets, ‘TRAPPIST-1d’.Â
Take a 360° tour of TRAPPIST-1d, one of the Earth-sized plants in the newly discovered system ~40 light-years away: https://t.co/5mMKpRPcoc pic.twitter.com/RRuPiOleOe
— NASA (@NASA) February 22, 2017
Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, was thrilled about the discovery and its implications.
“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.”
This discovery certainly brings us a significant step closer in our search for alien life in our infinite universe.
In conclusion, I’d like to leave you guys with a quote from one of my all time favourite films, ‘Contact’:
“I’ll tell you one thing about the universe, though. The universe is a pretty big place. It’s bigger than anything anyone has ever dreamed of before. So if it’s just us… seems like an awful waste of space. Right?”
Seems legit, right?
News Source: NASA
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