This spring, astronomers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announced the discovery of the TRAPPIST-1 stellar system, which is only 40 light-years away from Earth, which is very small by cosmic standards. It consists of three rocky planets orbiting a red dwarf in the so-called habitable zone. Some scientists doubted their existence, but recent photographs have confirmed the reliability of the discovery.
The basis for the announcement of the discovery of this system in May was the recorded fluctuations in the brightness of the star. The doubts of the opponents were connected with the fact that its brightness could periodically decrease for another reason - because of the presence of the TRAPPIST-1 satellite luminary, which is invisible to us.
Stephen Howell of NASA's Ames Research Center and his team decided to clarify by observing the system with the Chilean Gemini Telescope. Its DSSI tool makes it possible to search for even the dimmest stars and light sources near brighter stars by clearing the image of the noise caused by our atmosphere. As a result of the study, no other stellar mass objects were found near the red dwarf.
This confirms that TRAPPIST-1d and two other exoplanets do exist. It is assumed that they are similar to Earth in properties and size, may contain liquid water and atmospheres in which oxygen and carbon dioxide are present.
The research article was published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.