By: Ashton Newton Entertainment Editor
I don’t want to be cliche and begin this with a “Star Trek” quote, but it’s hard not to with NASA’s announcement of the discovery of T
RAPPIST-1.
TRAPPIST-1 is a star 39 lightyears from Earth, and is about the
size of Jupiter. It was found when scientists noticed small, recurring blips in its light. These blips were the seven Earth-sized planets that orbit TRAPPIST-1, four of which are in the “sweet spot” in distance from the star to hold liquid water, and subsequently support life.
I’m beyond excited about this discovery. Not just about the potential for liquid water and life, but because TRAPPIST-1 seems like something out of science fiction. TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool star; cool as in temperature, despite my obvious opinions. The planets are so close to each other that one could stand on the surface of one and see geographical landmarks on the next. The planets don’t rotate, so one side is stuck in an eternal day while the other is stuck in darkness. Small details like this about TRAPPIST-1 seem so exotic to us, but are actually more common than what we deal with on our own planet.
Getting to TRAPPIST-1 is completely impossible with our current technology. Even the closest star to ours, Proxima Centauri, is completely unreachable at four light-years away. We don’t have the technology to reach it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an exciting discovery.
Focus being put onto studying TRAPPIST-1 has not only excited me, but many others have taken to the Internet to voice their excitement as well. Already, the discovery has sparked creativity. The star’s official website, www.trappist.one, is filled with poems, short stories and artwork inspired by the discovery.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson responded to the discovery by suggesting that the planets be named after the seven dwarves. Other people on Twitter have suggested naming the planets after the seven wonders of the world or even the seven dwarves featured in “The Hobbit.”
With a lot of stress in everyday life, looking to the stars and learning about breathtaking discoveries in our galaxy is a great way to take a break from the world and think about the future.
It’s exciting to think about the potential discoveries that could be made in the future as our technology gets more and more advanced. TRAPPIST-1 is not only an example of how cool our galaxy is, it’s an example of how cool our technology is getting.
Contact the author at anewton15@wou.edu
