美宇航局发现酷似太阳系的行星系
NASA scientists have discovered at least seven Earth-sized planets, each potentially capable of hosting life, orbiting a nearby star just outside the solar system.
美国宇航局的科学家们发现，至少有七颗地球大小的行星围绕着太阳系外的一颗临近恒星运行，每颗行星都可能适宜生命体生存。
The exciting discovery announced Wednesday has been deemed one of the first realistic opportunities to begin a search for alien life outside our system as well as the first time so many planets were discovered circling the same star.
"This discovery could be a significant piece in the puzzle of finding habitable environments, places that are conducive to life. 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," associate administrator of the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington Thomas Zurbuchen said in a press release.
The cluster of planets orbit a dim dwarf star, just barely the size of Jupiter, called Trappist-1. The group of planets are about 40 light years away which isn't actually all that far away from Earth. The close proximity will allow the system to be studied in great detail, according to the release.