{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Observatory discovers potentially habitable planets' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d355d8eafeecae1e9090' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54d355d8eafeecae1e9090' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nObservatory discovers potentially habitable planets\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eLEADINAn observatory in Morocco's Atlas mountains has been involved in a major scientific breakthrough.Along with telescopes around the world, it has helped discover seven potentially habitable Earth-sized planets.STORYLINE Almost 3,000...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eLEADINAn observatory in Morocco's Atlas mountains has been involved in a major scientific breakthrough.Along with telescopes around the world, it has helped discover seven potentially habitable Earth-sized planets.STORYLINE Almost 3,000 metres up in the Atlas Mountains sits the Oukaimeden Observatory. It might look a little old fashioned, but it's part of a major new space discovery.NASA used the Oukaimeden Observatory's TRAPPIST - North telescope, along with others around the world, to locate seven potentially habitable Earth-size planets orbiting a nearby star. They are located just 40 light years away.The collective name for the planets is Trappist 1. Other telescopes involved in finding it included the TRAPPIST - South telescope in Chile, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope.Director of the observatory, Zouhair Benkhaldoun, takes a look at the newly discovered planets on his computer and explains:\"It does looks like our solar system. In our solar system some planets are gaseous, such as Jupiter, Saturn etc, where no life is possible. Other planets are too close to the Sun so no life is possible, such as Mercury. Venus has an atmosphere that is not favourable to life,\" he says.\"But the Earth is located in an area favourable to life. Trappist, this system here, has not just one Earth but three.\"Benkhaldoun has been passionate about space since he was a child. He says this discovery is particularly significant:\"It is going to push (research) forward quickly to look into this particular space region and maybe find that life is possible elsewhere (than on Earth)\". \"So of course it's a real pride for us, as a Moroccan scientist, as a Moroccan researcher and simply as just a Moroccan citizen.\" Near the big TRAPPIST - North telescope there is a little cabin. This is where Benkhaldoun and other space enthusiasts began studying the Sun in 1987. They soon realised that the little city of Oukaimeden was also the perfect spot to observe space.He went on to push for an observatory to be built but says the journey wasn't easy:\"There has not always been a momentum from the authorities to help us. Local authorities or national ones. So we had to devote time to the acceptance of the idea, and especially to information\", he says.Benkhaldoun also teaches at the University Cadi Ayyad in Marrakech.Among the 57 students he teaches is 26-year-old Mohammed Idrissi who says the discovery of Trappist 1 has encouraged him to stay on his course:\"When we knew that the observatory participated in this discovery, we were motivated to continue in these studies,\" he says. The university funds to the observatory because of the support the facility offers its students. It gives 300,000 Moroccan Dirhams (30,000 US Dollars) to the observatory every year with money from the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Training and Professional Research.Benkhaldoun would now like Morocco to recognise the observatory as a National Scientific Institute. That status would mean extra funding of 1 million Moroccan Dirhams (100,000 US Dollars) a year to conduct more research and encourage more young people to learn more about astronomy.Oukaimeden, Morocco - 9 March 2017 1. Various of Oukaimeden Observatory2. Mid of telescope dome housing 'TRAPPIST - North' telescope, which has helped find planets in another solar system3. Various of telescope dome opening 4. Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Astrophysicist and Director of the Observatory, walking behind telescope 5. Tilt-down from telescope to Benkhaldoun walking in6. Various of Benkhaldoun looking at his laptop at desk7. Various of laptop screen showing Trappist-1 planets 8. SOUNDBITE (French) Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Astrophysicist and Director of the Observatory: \"As you can see on the screen, we are looking at a system with several planets. It does looks like our solar system. In our solar system some planets are gaseous, such as Jupiter, Saturn etc, where no life is possible. Other planets are too close to the Sun so no life is possible, such as Mercury. Venus has an atmosphere that is not favourable to life. But the Earth is located in an area favourable to life. Trappist, this system here, has not just one Earth but three.\"9. Various of computer screen showing Trappist-1 planets10. SOUNDBITE (French) Zouhair Benkhaldoun, Astrophysicist and Director of the Observatory: \"Thanks to astronomers using the TRAPPIST - South telescope in Chile, TRAPPIST - North in Morocco, the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at Paranal and the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope, as well as other telescopes around the world, we have now confirmed the existence of at least seven small planets orbiting the cool red dwarf star TRAPPIST-1. According to scientific publications, this (Trappist) is one of the ten worldwide discoveries of all time. Why is that? Because it is going to push (research) forward quickly to look into this particular space region and maybe find that life is possible elsewhere (other than on Earth). So it's an historical change that is really important for humanity. So of course it's a real pride for us, as a Moroccan scientist, as a Moroccan researcher and simply as just a Moroccan citizen.\" 11. Close of Trappist telescope 12. Wide of Trappist telescope 13. Mid of plaque reading (French) \"University of Cadi Ayyad, Oukaimeden Observatory, North Trappist, 6th October 2016\"14. Various of Benkhaldoun and Ouchaou, technician at the observatory15. SOUNDBITE (French), Omar Ouchaou, technician at the observatory: \"The Observatory has been developing since 1989 until today. When we started we only had very simple equipment. And now we have managed to receive huge telescopes.\" 16. Atlas mountains seen through telescope door 17. Wide of a cabin which used to be an observatory18. Tracking of Benkhaldoun walking to cabin 19. SOUNDBITE (French), Zouhair Benkhaldoun,  Astrophysicist and Director of the Observatory: \"There has not always been a momentum from the authorities to help us. Local authorities or national ones. So we had to devote time to the acceptance of the idea, and especially to information.\"20. Tilt-up from Oukaimeden Observatory to the sky 21. Wide of Oukaimeden Observatory with sun setting behindMarrakech, Morocco - 9 March 2017  22. Pan across road from woman to entrance of university 23. Close of entrance to university24. Various of lecture theatre where Benkhaldoun is teaching25. SOUNDBITE (French) Mohammed Idrissi, physics student:\"It's encouraging. It encourages us to keep going in our studies. Because modern physics doesn't often apply (directly to a job) - it's not like electronics or energy studies - but when we knew that the observatory participated in this discovery, we were motivated to continue in these studies.\"  26. 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