TRAPPIST-1

High school (ages 12+)
Space & Astronomy

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/trappist-1

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. How heavy is TRAPPIST-1?Comparable to Earth's mass
2. What is the star type?Ultra-cool red dwarf
3. What is the star age?Estimated 7.6 billion years old
4. How many planets orbit TRAPPIST-1?Seven Earth‑size planets circle the star. They all stay very close, taking only a few days to go around.
5. Why do the planets always show the same side to the star?Each planet is tidally locked, meaning it spins at the same rate it orbits. One side is always in daylight and the other is always in darkness.

Ultra-cool Red Dwarf: A spectral class of star that is cooler, smaller, and less luminous than the Sun, representing the most common stellar type in the Milky Way.
Transit Photometry: A method of detecting exoplanets by measuring the periodic decrease in a star's brightness as a planet crosses its face.
Tidal Locking: A phenomenon where a celestial body's orbital period matches its rotational period, resulting in one side always facing the primary body.
Habitable Zone: The circumstellar region around a star where temperatures are suitable for liquid water to exist on the surface of a planet.