Hubble Observes Atmospheres of TRAPPIST-1 Exoplanets in the Habitable Zone

  • Released Monday, February 5, 2018

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have conducted the first spectroscopic survey of Earth-sized planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system's habitable zone. Hubble reveals that at least the inner five planets do not seem to contain puffy, hydrogen-rich atmospheres similar to gaseous planets such as Neptune. This means the atmospheres may be more shallow and rich in heavier gases like carbon dioxide, methane, and oxygen.

Find the full story and press release at hubblesite.org.

Read the joint Hubble and Spitzer findings on nasa.gov.

The science paper is available from Nature Astronomy.



Credits

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NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

Release date

This page was originally published on Monday, February 5, 2018.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:46 PM EDT.


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