Hello everyone!

This week on The Cosmic Companion, we journey just 40 light years from our home, examining the TRAPPIST-1 family of planets, one of the most interesting families of worlds yet discovered by astronomers. 

Solar systems all begin with a star, don’t they? I mean, it’s as good of a place to start as any, in’t? The stellar furnace at the center of this family of worlds is a cool, red star, conveniently named TRAPPIST-1. 

Less than 12 percent as large as our own Sun and only eight percent as massive, the TRAPPIST-1 star was only discovered in the year 2000. 

The surface of this star, radiating heat at just 2,260 degrees Celsius, is hot enough to melt almost — but not all — metals. Darn you, tungsten!

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Thanks for being a subscriber - I appreciate every one of you!Clear skies,

James

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