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ANYBODY OUT THERE?

Alien hunters from the SETI Institute listen for extraterrestrials in newly-discovered solar system Trappist-1

Distant star boasts seven Earth-like planets were discovered last year, boosting hopes that life could be thriving on at least one of them

SCIENTISTS are searching for signs of extra-terrestrial life in a newly discovered solar system.

Three Earth-like planets were discovered last year, orbiting a star like our own.

An artist's conception of what the surface of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f may look like, based on available data about its diameter, mass and distances from the host star
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An artist's conception of what the surface of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1f may look like, based on available data about its diameter, mass and distances from the host starCredit: AP:Associated Press

But last week Nasa revealed it had found four more planets in the same solar system - all of which are thought to be capable of hosting life.

Similarly to our own planet, each planets is in the Goldilocks zone, which means they are just far enough from their star (and are not too hot, or too cold).

Nasa said it was possible that sophisticated life could already be spread across all the planets.

But alien hunters at the Search for Extraterrestrials Institute (Seti) have been monitoring the solar system for alien sounds for more than a year.

Artist's concept of TRAPPIST-1, an ultra-cool dwarf star, and the seven Earth-size planets orbiting it
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Artist's concept of TRAPPIST-1, an ultra-cool dwarf star, and the seven Earth-size planets orbiting itCredit: PA:Press Association

They believe that by keeping an ear out for radio signals, life forms may get in touch.

And although there has been no contact, their experiments are far from over, scientists claimed.

They are watching the planets using The Allen Telescope Array (ATA), which is a “Large Number of Small Dishes” (LNSD) array designed to be highly effective for simultaneous surveys undertaken for Seti projects.

The seven planets in Trappist-1 are so close to each other, scientists believe that if life was created on just one, it is likely to have spread it to the others.

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Senior astronomer at : "The opportunities for life in the Trappist-1 system make our own solar system look fourth-rate.

"Life might not spring up on all seven of these worlds, but if just one of them spawned biology, collisions with small asteroids could spread that infection to the other worlds in short order.

"And if even a single planet eventually produced technically competent beings, that species could quickly disperse its kind to all the rest."

Shostak said the best way for us to figure out if life does exist on Trappi-1 is to listen out for radio signals.

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