Moroccan Researchers Involved in Astronomical Breakthrough Published in 'Planetary Science Journal'

Moroccan researchers belonging to the High Energy Physics and Astrophysics Laboratory and the Oukaimeden Observatory under the Cadi Ayyad University (UCA) of Marrakesh took part in a new astronomical discovery that was published on Jan. 22 in the prestigious “Planetary Science Journal”.

Published jointly by researchers from the Oukaimeden Astronomical Observatory and researchers from NASA, this study revealed that the 7 rocky planets of TRAPPIST-1, the existence of which was uncovered in February 2017 in paper issued by journal “Nature”, have similar densities, a statement from UCA said.

According to this new study, this discovery means that the planets all contain roughly the same ratio of materials believed to make up most of the rocky planets, such as iron, oxygen, magnesium and silicon.

In this case, the composition of the TRAPPIST-1 planets is different from that of Earth: they are about 8% less dense than they would be if they had the same composition as our planet of origin.

The researchers hypothesized that the mixture of bulk ingredients could give the TRAPPIST-1 planets this specific density.

Since the initial detection in 2016 of the TRAPPIST-1 worlds, researchers have continued to closely observe and study its seven planets using space and terrestrial telescopes, it said.