“Unbelievable Transformation: Man’s Reckless Encounter with a Particle Accelerator Defies Science!”
TRAPPIST -1d Exhibited Some Strange Behavior
At the same time Gillon had published his team’s findings, he noticed that TRAPPIST-1d had some strange behavior. He traveled to the Atacama Desert in South America, where he could observe the planet through the Very Large Telescope (a creative name, isn’t it?) at ESO’s observatory.
After observing the planet, he realized that the dip in brightness they attributed to TRAPPIST-1d was not caused by the planet alone. It was caused by three separate planets transiting at the same time. This is a feat that, according to Julien de Wit, a planetary scientist and co-author of the study, only happens once every three years.
The Chance of Catching This Phenomenon Was Slim
The chance of catching what Gillon caught in the Very Large Telescope was somewhat of a miracle. “The chance of catching it is less than one in a thousand,” explained de Wit. “It’s funny because it’s such a huge paper with amazing results, and we got it from sheer luck.”
This led to the team requesting time at the Spitzer Space Telescope, which offered an uninterrupted view of the newfound solar system. In the 20 days the team spent with the telescope, they saw 34 transits, which lead to the realization that TRAPPIST-1 had seven planets. They renamed them TRAPPIST-1b through –h.
