Exploring Alien Worlds with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope: TRAPPIST-1 System

During its first operating cycle, the James Webb Space Telescope will set its sights on the TRAPPIST-1 system, an incredible collection of seven rocky exoplanets 41 light-years away from Earth.

Astrobiologists like Dr. Giada Arney from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center are excited about this system because TRAPPIST-1 is a perfect laboratory for studying habitability! It consists of seven rocky planets, distributed across the system’s habitable zone, or the area around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets. Webb will characterize the atmospheres of these planets and help scientists learn more about planetary formation and habitability.

Learn more about Webb’s mission: http://webb.nasa.gov/ Learn more about the search for life: http://astrobiology.nasa.gov