This astronomer's poem beautifully explains the monumental discovery of 7 Earth-sized planets

Dave MosherFeb 23, 2017, 04:04 IST

This artist's impression shows an imagined view from the surface one of the three planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star just 40 light-years from Earth that were discovered using the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory.ESO/M. Kornmesser

Seven rocky, Earth-size planets have been found circling TRAPPIST-1, a red dwarf star about the size of Jupiter.

A few of the worlds might even be habitable.

The monumental discovery has prompted scientists to launch a website for the planetary system - and yes, it has an equally monumental domain: trappist.one.

Researchers inspired by the new planetary system, which is about 39 light-years from Earth, are using trappist.one to publish fiction, artwork, and even poetic prose about it.

One poem by Sean Raymond, an astronomer at the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Bordeaux who co-authored a study in Nature about the planetary system, caught our eye.

Called "Ode to 7 orbs", it beautifully explains the discovery and importance of TRAPPIST-1's seven planets.

Raymond gave Business Insider permission to share his work, which we've reproduced here with a few illustrative additions.

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This astronomer's poem beautifully explains the monumental discovery of 7 Earth-sized planets