The data from the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) telescope was used to discover the seven Earth-sized planets orbiting a star 40 light years away.
Three of these planets are in the star’s "habitable zone”. This means could have liquid water on their surface‚ which increases the chances of them hosting life. . SAAO’s 1m telescope was used to take observations of the planetary system over several nights in June and July last year‚ said Amanda Sickafoose‚ head of instrumentation at SAAO.
- Earth-like exoplanets prime target in search for life: studyThe stunning discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting a small star in our galaxy opens up the most promising hunting ground so far for life beyond the Solar System, researchers said Wednesday.
The telescope is equipped with the Sutherland high speed optical camera‚ which can take up to 70 images a second.
“This system is quite different from our solar system‚ which also raises new questions. The SAAO is proud to have played a small role in this advancement in our understanding of planetary systems."
Other telescopes used include Nasa’s Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes in Chile‚ Morocco‚ Hawaii and the Canary Islands.
- WATCH: Could there be life on planets in new solar system?Life may have evolved on at least three planets in a newly discovered solar system just 39 light years from Earth, Nasa has announced.
The researchers‚ lead by Michaël Gillon of the University of Liège in Belgium‚ report that the three planets are likely to be rocky planets‚ as are the Earth and Mars‚ Venus and Mercury.
Full details of the discovery have been published in the journal Nature.
- Clues to life in the starsSeven Earth-like planets orbiting a small star in our galaxy called Trappist-1 are the most recent - and arguably most spectacular - in a string of exoplanet discoveries in the past 20 years.
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