The 7 rocky TRAPPIST-1 planets may be made of similar stuff
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1 is home to the largest group of roughly Earth-size planets ever found in a single stellar system.
Located about 40 light-years away, these seven rocky siblings provide an example of the tremendous variety of planetary systems that likely fill the universe.
A new study published in the Planetary Science Journal shows that the TRAPPIST-1 planets have remarkably similar densities.
That could mean they all contain about the same ratio of materials thought to compose most rocky planets, like iron, oxygen, magnesium, and silicon.