Last May, astronomers announced that they'd found three planets orbiting a small, cool star situated near Aquarius, 40 light-years away from Earth.

They doubled down on their announcement yesterday by declaring that seven Earth-sized planets, likely rocky in composition, orbited Trappist-1 in the star's "Goldilocks zone" where life-permitting temperatures prevail. 

The success validated a change in strategy for astronomers, who for decades have ignored dwaft stars like Trappist-1, which is 200 times dimmer than our sun. While it's possible that astronomers were really lucky in finding so many planets, it's more likely that we've been underestimating the number of Earth-like planets.

The money line from a Cambridge astronomer not involved in the discovery: "We’ve made a crucial step toward finding if there is life out there." 

Notably, many astrologers contend we are currently in the Age of Aquarius. 

The building blocks of life are more common in our galaxy than previously thought. The bleak flip side: in the case study examined, the carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, and oxygen get there because one of their orbiting planets crashed into the star, its matter ultimately exhaled into orbit like a belch from a sated diner. 

This year's nominations includes a novel about people who can control earthquakes in a postapocalyptic Evil Earth, an allegory about neurodiversity told through a job shuttling fairies between parallel universes, and the revenge of a murdered angel. 

See the whole list, including links to stories you can read online, here.