A trip to TRAPPIST-1 and its seven planets

This video takes the viewer on a quick trip from Earth, past the Moon and far beyond. We finally arrive at the faint red ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, which has a remarkable seven planets orbiting it, all having sizes similar to the Earth.

The stars in the animation are accurately positioned as in reality. The tiny ultracool dwarf TRAPPIST-1 is so dim that it would remain invisible to the naked eye until the imaginary traveller gets very close, when its seven orbiting planets can also be seen.

The artist’s impression in this video is based on the known physical parameters for the planets and stars seen, and uses a vast database of objects in the Universe.