NASA (Exoplanet Catalog artwork)TRAPPIST-1e
The most promising of seven Earth-sized worlds around an ultra-cool dwarf
Overview
TRAPPIST-1e is a tidally locked, rocky, close-to-Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone around the ultra-cool red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, located 40.7 light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Aquarius. Astronomers used the transit method to find the exoplanet, a method that measures the dimming of a star when a planet crosses in front of it.
Source: Wikipedia
NASA: TRAPPIST-1 e is a terrestrial exoplanet that orbits a M-type star. Its mass is 0.692 Earths, it takes 6.1 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.02925 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2017.
Why it matters
- TRAPPIST-1 hosts seven roughly Earth-sized planets, three or four in the habitable zone.
- Planet e has a density close to Earth's and could hold liquid water.
- JWST has ruled out a hydrogen-rich atmosphere; a nitrogen-rich one remains possible.
NASA puts it this way: “TRAPPIST-1 e is a terrestrial exoplanet that orbits an M-type star. Its mass is 0.692 Earths, it takes 6.1 days to complete one orbit of its star, and is 0.02925 AU from its star. Its discovery was announced in 2017.”
Discovery & system
- Discovered
- 2017 · Transit · Multiple Observatories
- Discovery paper
- Gillon et al. 2017
- Host star
- TRAPPIST-1 · M8.0 V · 2,566 K · 0.09 M☉
- System
- 7 known planets
- Siblings
- TRAPPIST-1 b, TRAPPIST-1 c, TRAPPIST-1 d, TRAPPIST-1 f, TRAPPIST-1 g, TRAPPIST-1 h
The system
| World | Period | Distance | Radius | Mass | Temp. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TRAPPIST-1 b | 1.51 d | 0.012 AU | 1.12 R⊕ | 1.37 M⊕ | 398 K |
| TRAPPIST-1 c | 2.42 d | 0.016 AU | 1.1 R⊕ | 1.31 M⊕ | 340 K |
| TRAPPIST-1 d | 4.05 d | 0.022 AU | 0.79 R⊕ | 0.39 M⊕ | 286 K |
| TRAPPIST-1 e | 6.1 d | 0.029 AU | 0.92 R⊕ | 0.69 M⊕ | 250 K |
| TRAPPIST-1 f | 9.21 d | 0.038 AU | 1.05 R⊕ | 1.04 M⊕ | 218 K |
| TRAPPIST-1 g | 12.4 d | 0.047 AU | 1.13 R⊕ | 1.32 M⊕ | 197 K |
| TRAPPIST-1 h | 18.8 d | 0.062 AU | 0.76 R⊕ | 0.33 M⊕ | 172 K |
By the numbers
- Radius
- 0.92 R⊕5,861 km
- Mass
- 0.69 M⊕4.13 ×10²⁴ kg
- Orbital period
- 6.1 d0.02 yr
- Distance from star
- 0.029 AU4.38 million km
- Eccentricity
- 0.005nearly circular
- Equilibrium temp.
- 250 K-23 °C
- Starlight received
- 0.65 × Earth
- Distance from Earth
- 40.5 ly12.4 pc
- Density
- 4.9 g/cm³0.89 × Earth
Sources
Image: NASA (Exoplanet Catalog artwork) · NASA media: generally free of copyright · image page
Text: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Taglines and highlights are editorial.