Seven Earth-sized worlds orbit one tiny star next door #spacediscovery

Added: 2026-06-02

[00:00:00]Just 39 light-years away sits a star hiding seven planets, all close to the size of Earth, packed into a system smaller than Mercury's orbit. The star is called TRAPPIST-1, a cool red dwarf barely larger than Jupiter.

[00:00:16]Its planets huddle so close together that a year on the innermost world lasts only 36 hours. Three of them orbit in the habitable zone where liquid water could survive. If you stood on one of these worlds, the neighboring planets would loom in the sky larger than our moon, close enough to see their clouds and continents drifting by.

[00:00:38]Because the star is so dim, the surface of the right planet could sit near a mild 70° Fahrenheit.

[00:00:45]But there is a catch.

[00:00:47]Red dwarfs unleash violent flares, blasting their planets with radiation that can strip an atmosphere away.

[00:00:54]The James Webb telescope is studying these worlds right now, sniffing their air for the fingerprints of life. If even one of those seven planets is breathing, we are not alone.

[00:01:06]And the answer may arrive within your lifetime.