awarehorizon // atlas_record
TRAPPIST-1e
An Earth-sized world in a compact seven-planet system.
- classification
- Terrestrial exoplanet
- system
- TRAPPIST-1
TRAPPIST-1e is one of seven roughly Earth-sized planets transiting a small, cool red dwarf. It orbits within the range of distances where a suitable atmosphere could allow surface liquid water.
- Distance from Earth
- about 40 light years
- Radius
- about 0.92 Earth radii
- Mass
- about 0.69 Earth masses
- Orbital period
- 6.10 days
- Orbital distance
- about 0.029 AU from its star
Only values with an established scientific consensus are listed. Where a quantity is uncertain or model-dependent, it is discussed in the sections below rather than stated as data.
Seven planets transit the same star
Repeated, regularly spaced dips in the star's brightness identify seven planets, several close to Earth in size.
The planets tug on each other
Transits arrive slightly early or late as the planets interact gravitationally, which yields their masses and densities.
The host star is small and active
TRAPPIST-1 is an ultracool dwarf that emits frequent flares — a significant factor for any atmosphere.
Transit photometry
Ground and space telescopes measured the periodic brightness dips that reveal planet sizes and orbits.
Transit-timing variations
Small deviations in transit times encode the planets' mutual gravitational pulls, and therefore their masses.
Infrared spectroscopy
JWST is testing whether these planets retain atmospheres at all.
- Does TRAPPIST-1e have an atmosphere?This is not yet established.
- Could stellar flares have stripped the inner planets' atmospheres over time?
- Is surface liquid water possible here?Only a hypothesis, dependent on an atmosphere we have not confirmed.
Items above are unresolved. Hypotheses are labelled as such and are not presented as confirmed findings.