TRAPPIST-1 e is a rocky, Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting in the habitable zone of the ultra-cool M dwarf trappist-1, approximately 39 light-years from Earth. It is considered one of the best candidates for atmospheric characterization with jwst due to its favorable orbital geometry for transit observations.
Astrobiology Significance
- Used as the proof-of-concept target in Wogan et al. (2026) for surface-flux-inference retrieval: a synthetic 10-transit JWST NIRSpec Prism spectrum showed that CO₂ and CH₄ are detectable, and CH₄ surface flux can be constrained to within ~1.5 orders of magnitude (68% CI) (see src-biosignature-gas-flux-inference-2026-04).
- ~80% of the CH₄ flux posterior in the Wogan et al. simulation is consistent with CH₄-producing metabolism.
- The flux-inference method requires accurate knowledge of TRAPPIST-1’s near-UV spectrum; stellar characterization is the primary bottleneck.
- Despite its habitable-zone location, the interplanetary-habitable-zone model by caleb-scharf finds advanced civilizations in the TRAPPIST-1 system face extinction within ~45 years due to radiation from the active host M dwarf (see src-interplanetary-habitable-zone-2026).