New Model: Nearby Exoplanet TRAPPIST-1e May Be Just Right for Life
http://www.space.com/36349-trappist-1e-just-right-for-life.html
Tucked between a boiled-away desert and a giant snowball, an alien world called TRAPPIST-1e
may be the only habitable planet in a newly discovered batch of seven, according to a new climate model.
When researchers announced the discovery of seven planets that closely orbit the cool red star TRAPPIST-1 in February,
there was a rush to learn more about the little rocky worlds and find out if any might be habitable. One of the first
scientists to model the worlds' potential climates in depth was Eric Wolf, a researcher at University of Colorado, Boulder.
His model, along with others still to come, will paint a clearer picture of what the system's planets could actually be like.
Wolf modeled three planets around TRAPPIST-1 and tested different potential atmospheres to see whether any let liquid water
exist on a planet's surface. He found that, in his simulation, only one of the planets listed as potentially habitable would
be able to keep liquid water.
