{"id":802245,"date":"2026-05-19T14:17:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=802245"},"modified":"2026-05-19T14:17:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T19:17:32","slug":"trappist-1e-the-distant-world-that-is-our-best-hope-of-finding-alien-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/?p=802245","title":{"rendered":"TRAPPIST-1e: The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n \n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
TRAPPIST-1e: The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life | New Scientist<\/title><br \/>\n <meta http-equiv=\"X-UA-Compatible\" content=\"IE=edge\"\/><link rel=\"preconnect\" href=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\"\/>\n<p> <meta name=\"thumbnail\" content=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/19132618\/SEI_296663926.jpg\"\/><meta name=\"p:domain_verify\" content=\"e1ad6b074bd56738db29f7d0150698c9\"\/><meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/19132618\/SEI_296663926.jpg\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/19132618\/SEI_296663926.jpg\"\/><meta name=\"theme-color\" content=\"#ffffff\" data-js-meta-theme-colour=\"\"\/><meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\"\/><meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\"\/><meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life\"\/><meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2526127-the-distant-world-that-is-our-best-hope-of-finding-alien-life\/\"\/><meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New Scientist\"\/><meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A decade ago, we discovered an exceptionally exciting exoplanet that could be the best candidate for hosting alien life. Now we\u2019re about to find out if it really is\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newscientist\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newscientist\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"A decade ago, we discovered an exceptionally exciting exoplanet that could be the best candidate for hosting alien life. Now we\u2019re about to find out if it really is\"\/><meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life\"\/><meta name=\"news_keywords\" content=\"exoplanets,alien life,space,Interactive\"\/><meta name=\"author\" content=\"#author.fullName}\"\/><meta name=\"description\" content=\"A decade ago, we discovered an exceptionally exciting exoplanet that could be the best candidate for hosting alien life. Now we\u2019re about to find out if it really is\"\/><meta name=\"keywords\" content=\"exoplanets,alien life,space,Interactive\"\/><meta name=\"ob_page_type\" content=\"non-paywall\"\/><meta name=\"onesignal\" content=\"wordpress-plugin\"\/><meta name=\"articleRestriction\" content=\"everyone\"\/><meta name=\"barrierType\" content=\"None\"\/><meta name=\"robots\" content=\"max-image-preview:large\"\/><meta name=\"useClientSidePaywall\" content=\"0\"\/><\/p>\n<p> <!-- Google Tag Manager GA4--><\/p>\n<p> <!-- End Google Tag Manager --><\/p>\n<p> <!-- Optional, if we want the stylesheet to get preloaded. Note that this line causes stylesheet to get downloaded, but not applied to the page. Use strategically — while preloading will push this resource up the priority list, it may cause more important resources to be pushed down the priority list. This may not be the desired effect for non-critical CSS, depending on other resources your app needs. -->\n <link rel=\"preload\" href=\"https:\/\/use.typekit.net\/zvd4ukw.css\" as=\"style\"\/>\n<p> <!-- Media type (print) doesn't match the current environment, so browser decides it's not that important and loads the stylesheet asynchronously (without delaying page rendering). On load, we change media type so that the stylesheet gets applied to screens. -->\n <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/use.typekit.net\/zvd4ukw.css\" media=\"print\" onload=\"this.media=\" all=\"\"\/>\n<p> <!-- Fallback that only gets inserted when JavaScript is disabled, in which case we can't load CSS asynchronously. --><br \/>\n <noscript><link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/use.typekit.net\/zvd4ukw.css\"\/><\/noscript> <\/p>\n<link rel=\"preload\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/base\/styles.8e020f08.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\" as=\"style\" onload=\"this.onload=null;this.rel=\" stylesheet=\"\"\/>\n <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/base\/styles.8e020f08.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all and (-ms-high-contrast: none), (-ms-high-contrast: active)\"\/>\n <noscript><link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"new-scientist-style-min-css\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/base\/styles.8e020f08.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<link rel=\"preload\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/2839.0ddb7159.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\" as=\"style\" onload=\"this.onload=null;this.rel=\" stylesheet=\"\"\/>\n <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/2839.0ddb7159.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all and (-ms-high-contrast: none), (-ms-high-contrast: active)\"\/>\n <noscript><link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"new-scientist-style-min-css\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/2839.0ddb7159.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\"\/><\/noscript>\n <link rel=\"preload\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/3927.f4b61e75.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\" as=\"style\" onload=\"this.onload=null;this.rel=\" stylesheet=\"\"\/>\n <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/3927.f4b61e75.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all and (-ms-high-contrast: none), (-ms-high-contrast: active)\"\/>\n <noscript><link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"new-scientist-style-min-css\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/3927.f4b61e75.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\"\/><\/noscript>\n <link rel=\"preload\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/base\/article\/styles.866292ad.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\" as=\"style\" onload=\"this.onload=null;this.rel=\" stylesheet=\"\"\/>\n <link rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/base\/article\/styles.866292ad.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all and (-ms-high-contrast: none), (-ms-high-contrast: active)\"\/>\n <noscript><link rel=\"stylesheet\" id=\"new-scientist-style-min-css\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/base\/article\/styles.866292ad.css\" type=\"text\/css\" media=\"all\"\/><\/noscript><\/p>\n<link rel=\"shortcut icon\" type=\"image\/x-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/new-sci-favicon.d65b52af.ico\"\/>\n <link rel=\"alternate\" type=\"application\/rss+xml\" title=\"New Scientist - Home\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/feed\/home\/\"\/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2526127-the-distant-world-that-is-our-best-hope-of-finding-alien-life\/\"\/>\n<link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/57x57.e4162865.png\"\/><link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" sizes=\"72x72\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/72x72.36c753ab.png\"\/><link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" sizes=\"114x114\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/114x114.a049c08a.png\"\/><link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" sizes=\"120x120\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/120x120.a2c99f0f.png\"\/><link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" sizes=\"144x144\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/144x144.6056d69a.png\"\/><link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" sizes=\"152x152\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/152x152.dd795af8.png\"\/><link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" sizes=\"167x167\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/167x167.d05af3d4.png\"\/><link rel=\"apple-touch-icon\" sizes=\"180x180\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/build\/images\/layup\/touch-icon\/180x180.50b024f6.png\"\/>\n<p> <\/head><\/p>\n<p> <body id=\"wp_automatic_ReadabilityBody\"><\/p>\n<p> <noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.googletagmanager.com\/ns.html?id=GTM-TH2S733K\" height=\"0\" width=\"0\" style=\"display:none;visibility:hidden\"><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p> <main class=\"Page ArticleDeepDivePage\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/interactives\/sh\/an-alien-sky\/index.html\" class=\"DeepDiveArticle__Iframe\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/main><\/p>\n<p><!-- Piano End banner (Desktop only) --><\/p>\n<section id=\"piano-end-banner\" role=\"dialog\" class=\"PianoOverlay PianoOverlay--EndBanner\" data-js-piano-end-banner=\"\">\n<div class=\"PianoOverlay__BannerWrapper\" data-js-piano-end-banner-wrapper=\"\">\n<div class=\"PianoOverlay__EndBannerCentralColumn\">\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <button class=\"PianoOverlay__CloseButton\" data-js-piano-overlay-close-button=\"\"><br \/>\n <span class=\"PianoOverlay__CloseButtonInner\"\/><br \/>\n <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span><br \/>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- Piano Exit Overlay --><br \/>\n<dialog id=\"piano-central-overlay\" class=\"PianoOverlay PianoOverlay--ExitOverlay\" data-js-piano-central-overlay=\"\"><\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"PianoOverlay__ExitOverlayMobile\" width=\"300\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/17102106\/new-scientist-social-meta-image.png\" alt=\"Piano Exit Overlay Banner Mobile\" data-js-piano-central-overlay-mobile-image=\"\"\/><br \/>\n <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"PianoOverlay__ExitOverlayDesktop\" width=\"800\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/images.newscientist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/17102106\/new-scientist-social-meta-image.png\" alt=\"Piano Exit Overlay Banner Desktop\" data-js-piano-central-overlay-desktop-image=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p> <button class=\"PianoOverlay__CloseButton\" data-js-piano-overlay-close-button=\"\"><br \/>\n <span class=\"PianoOverlay__CloseButtonInner\"\/><br \/>\n <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span><br \/>\n <\/button><br \/>\n<\/dialog> <\/p>\n<p> <\/body>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newscientist.com\/article\/2526127-the-distant-world-that-is-our-best-hope-of-finding-alien-life\/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=space&rand=772163\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TRAPPIST-1e: The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life | New Scientist Close Close Source link<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":802246,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-802245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-scientist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=802245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/802246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=802245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=802245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spaceweekly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=802245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}