7 Earth-Size Planets Orbit Dwarf Star, NASA and

European Astronomers Say

Not just one, but seven Earth-size planets that could potentially harbor life have been
identified orbiting a tiny star not too far away, offering the first realistic opportunity to
search for signs of alien life outside the solar system.

The planets orbit a dwarf star named Trappist-1, about 40 light-years, or 235 trillion
miles, from Earth. That is quite close in cosmic terms, and by happy accident, the
orientation of the orbits of the seven planets allows them to be studied in great detail.

One or more of the exoplanets in this new system could be at the right temperature to
be awash in oceans of water, astronomers said, based on the distance of the planets from
the dwarf star.

“This is the first time so many planets of this kind are found around the same star,”
Michael Gillon, an astronomer at the University of Liege in Belgium and the leader of
an international team that has been observing Trappist-1, said during a telephone news
conference organized by the journal Nature, which published the findings on
Wednesday.

Scientists could even discover compelling evidence of aliens.

“I think that we have made a crucial step toward finding if there is life out there,” said
Amaury H. M. J. Triaud, an astronomer at the University of Cambridge in England and
another member of the research team. “Here, if life managed to thrive and releases
gases similar to that we have on Earth, then we will know.”

Cool red dwarfs are the most common type of star, so astronomers are likely to find more
planetary systems like that around Trappist-1 in the coming years.

“You can just imagine how many worlds are out there that have a shot to becoming a
habitable ecosystem,” Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator of NASA’s science
mission directorate, said during a NASA news conference on Wednesday. “Are we alone
out there? We’re making a step forward with this — a leap forward, in fact — towards
answering that question.”

Telescopes on the ground now and the Hubble Space Telescope in orbit will be able to
discern some of the molecules in the planetary atmospheres. The James Webb Space
Telescope, scheduled to launch next year, will peer at the infrared wavelengths of light,
ideal for studying Trappist-1.

Comparisons among the different conditions of the seven will also be revealing.

“The Trappist-1 planets make the search for life in the galaxy imminent,” said Sara
Seager, an astronomer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was not a
member of the research team. “For the first time ever, we don’t have to speculate. We
just have to wait and then make very careful observations and see what is in the
atmospheres of the Trappist planets.” Even if the planets all turn out to be lifeless,
scientists will have learned more about what keeps life from flourishing.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — The poison used to kill Kim Jong-nam, the half brother
of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was VX nerve agent, which is listed as a
chemical weapon, the Malaysian police announced Friday.

In a brief statement, Khalid Abu Bakar, the national police chief, said the substance
was listed as a chemical weapon under the Chemical Weapons Conventions of 1997 and
2005, to which North Korea is not a party.

South Korea has suggested that the killing was the work of the North Korean
government. The revelation that a banned weapon was used in such a high-profile
killing raises the stakes over how Malaysia and the international community will
respond.

VX nerve agent can be delivered in two compounds that are mixed at the last moment
to create a lethal dose. The police say that two women approached Mr. Kim at the airport
with the poison on their hands and rubbed it on his face one after the other.

Samples were taken from Mr. Kim’s skin and eyes. The poison was identified in a
preliminary analysis by the Center for Chemical Weapons Analysis of the Chemistry
Department of Malaysia, Mr. Khalid said.