the journal of literature and the arts at saint david ’ s school
So how do scientists study objects that are outside of our solar system ? The answer lies in telescopes . TRAPPIST-1 was originally discovered in May 2016 by the Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope , or TRAPPIST , in Chile . The system has since been viewed through more wellknown telescopes , including the Hubble , Spitzer , and even the new James Webb telescope . If you look closely through one of these , you might just spot an alien . Using these telescopes , we can look at the starlight that passes through these planets ’ atmospheres . When a planet is in front of its sun , we can detect a dip in the star ’ s brightness , letting us know that there is indeed a planet there . ( Be at the side of TRAPPIST-1 , looking at star by this point .) This technique for finding far away planets is called the transit method . By looking at the slight variations in the timings of TRAPPIST-1 ’ s planets as they orbit around their sun , NASA can accurately determine each exoplanet ’ s size , mass , and density . Based on these densities , every planet in TRAPPIST-1 is likely rocky , just like Earth . Finding planets similar to Earth is one of the most promising signs of life , as life has thrived on our home planet for over three and a half billion years . There is still much to learn about TRAPPIST-1 , and NASA will release their observations of the planet taken with the new James Webb telescope sometime in 2023 . For now , it remains one of the most fascinating systems for astrobiologists in the search for life .
Scene 4 : Mars ( Target Mars . Zoom closely , pan while zooming to visualize Mars at a close angle . Start to rotate , then zoom out and pan slowly to re-center Mars . Then start zooming in again until finished talking .)
Now we ’ re flying back into our solar system to everyone ’ s second favorite planet , Mars . Mars is NASA ’ s most observed planet in the search for life . While I worked at NASA , I studied this planet for years . In fact , I even helped
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