TRAPPIST-1 System Compared with Mercury Orbit (Artist's Illustration)

 TRAPPIST-1 System Compared with Mercury Orbit (Artist's Illustration)

The TRAPPIST-1 system, consisting of several known Earth-sized planets orbiting a red dwarf star, would fit deep inside the orbit of the sun's innermost planet, Mercury.

Credits

NASA, ESA, and A. Feild (STScI)

About The Object
Object Name TRAPPIST-1, 2MASS J23062928-0502285
Object Description Exoplanet System
R.A. Position 23h 6m 29.28s
Dec. Position -05° 02' 28.59"
Constellation Aquarius
Distance 39 light-years (12 parsecs)
About The Data
Data Description Data were provided by the HST proposal 14500: J. de Wit (MIT), M. Gillon and A. Burdanov (University of Liège, Belgium), A. Burgasser (UCSD), L. Delrez (University of Liège, Belgium), B.-O. Demory (U. Cambridge), E. Jehin (University of Liège, Belgium), S. Lederer (NASA/Johnson Space Center), N. Lewis (STScI), P. Magain (University of Liège, Belgium), and D. Queloz and A. Triaud (U. Cambridge). The science team also includes V. Van Grootel (University of Liège, Belgium), C. Opitom (University of Liège, Belgium), D. Sahu (Indian Institute of Astrophysics), and D. Gagliuffi (UCSD).
Instrument WFC3/IR
Exposure Dates May 4, 2016
About The Object
Object Name A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.
Object Description The type of astronomical object.
R.A. Position Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position.
Dec. Position Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position.
Constellation One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears.
Distance The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.
Dimensions The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.
About The Data
Data Description
  • Proposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
  • Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.
Instrument The science instrument used to produce the data.
Exposure Dates The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.
Filters The camera filters that were used in the science observations.
About The Image
Image Credit The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content.
Publication Date The date and time the release content became public.
Color Info A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented.
Orientation The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere.