Seven alien, Earth-sized worlds bask in the cool, red light of their parent star. The planetary menagerie exists around a star overlooked by other exoplanet hunters, although it is just 12 parsecs (39 light years) from Earth.
Astronomers have found other seven-planet systems before, but this is the first to have so many Earth-sized worlds. All of them orbit at the right distance to possibly have liquid water somewhere on their surfaces.
Image: NASA/ESA/STScI/J. de Wit An artist's illustration shows two Earth-sized planets spinning across the face of an M dwarf star called TRAPPIST-1.
