Kepler telescope shows Trappist-1 in glorious low-resolution

Images from the Kepler telescope are available to the public. This 11 by 11 pixel gif, shows 60 measurements or photos taken by the Kepler telescope once a minute for an hour on February 22. What we're seeing is planets passing in front of the Trappist-1 star Now let's back track a little. Recently NASA announced that scientists had found seven earth-sized planets orbiting the star known as Trappist-1. The discovery was made using NASA's Spitzer space telescope. Located about 40 light-years away, these seven planets could all have liquid water, but three are believed to be in the habitable zone. The announcement was accompanied by beautiful artist renderings of what these planets could look like. NASA also made available the raw data files captured by the Kepler Telescope, observing TRAPPIST-1, why? The data will aid astronomers prep future proposals in how to use ground based telescopes to help investigate TRAPPIST-1 Back to GIF, NASA explains that the flickering of the pixels corresponds to dips in brightness of the Trappist-1 star as an Earth-sized planet passes in front of it. Are these the best images we will see of the planets orbiting Trappist-1? No, the Kepler telescope will be supplemented by more advanced instruments, like the James Webb telescope which should provide more clear data. For more information, check out cnet.com. I'm Aya Zaktar, and I'll see you online.