Illustration of TRAPPIST-1 Planets as of Feb. 2018
Ssc2018 04a

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt, T. Pyle (IPAC)

Artwork • February 5th, 2018 • ssc2018-04a

ssc2018-04a

This illustration shows the seven Earth-size planets of TRAPPIST-1, an exoplanet system about 40 light-years away, based on data current as of February 2018. The image shows the planets relative sizes but does not represent their orbits to scale. The art highlights possibilities for how the surfaces of these intriguing worlds might look based on their newly-calculated properties.

The seven planets of TRAPPIST-1 are all Earth-sized and terrestrial. TRAPPIST-1 is an ultra-cool dwarf star in the constellation Aquarius, and its planets orbit very close to it.

About the Object

Name
TRAPPIST-1
Type
Planet > Type > Terrestrial
Star > Spectral Type > M
Distance
39.6 Light Years