Bintang di pusat sistem ditemukan tahun 1999 pada saat ''Two Micron All-Sky Survey'' ([[2MASS]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2017/february/star-connection/ |title=Celestial Connection |last=Bryant |first=Tracey |date=22 February 2017|publisher=University of Delaware}}</ref> Hal tersebut masuk dalam katalog berikutnya dengan penamaan "2MASS J23062928-0502285". Angka-angkanya mengacu pada [[asensio rekta]] dan [[deklinasi]] dari posisi bintang di langit dan "J" mengacu pada [[Epoch (astronomi)#Tahun Julian dan J2000|Julian Epoch]].
Sistem ini kemudian dipelajari oleh sebuah tim di [[University of Liège]], yang membuat observasi awal mereka menggunakan ''Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope–South'' dari bulan September hingga Desember 2015 dan mengumumkan temuan mereka padadalam edisi Mei 2016 Jurnal ''[[Nature]]''.<ref name="Guardian" /><ref name = "Gillon2016">{{cite journal|title=Temperate Earth-sized planets transiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=533 |issue=7602 |pages=221–224 |year=2016 | url= http://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1615/eso1615a.pdf |doi=10.1038/nature17448 |last1=Gillon |first1=M. |last2=Jehin |first2=E. |last3=Lederer |first3=S. M. |last4=Delrez |first4=L. |last5=De Wit |first5=J. |last6=Burdanov |first6=A. |last7=Van Grootel |first7=V. |last8=Burgasser |first8=A. J. |last9=Triaud |first9=A. H. M. J. |last10=Opitom |first10=C. |last11=Demory |first11=B.-O. |last12=Sahu |first12=D. K. |last13=Bardalez Gagliuffi |first13=D. |last14=Magain |first14=P. |last15=Queloz |first15=D. }}</ref>The robotic telescope's [[acronym]] of TRAPPIST underscores the Belgian origins of the project, denoting as it does the contemplative [[religious order]] of [[Trappists]] (the astronomers celebrated their discovery with a round of the contemplatives' [[Trappist beer]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/22/new-terrestrial-planets-discovered-by-international-scientists-international-collaboration-maybe-theres-some-aliens/|title=News So Foreign It’s Out of This World: Scientists Discover Seven New Potentially Habitable Planets|last=Gramer|first=Robbie|date=22 February 2017|publisher=[[Foreign Policy]]}}</ref> which they hold in high regard).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1023/ | title = New National Telescope at La Silla—TRAPPIST to Scout the Sky and Uncover Exoplanets and Comets (eso1023 — Organisation Release) | date = 8 June 2010 | website = www.eso.org | publisher = ESO | accessdate = 4 January 2015}}</ref>
Nama bintang TRAPPIST-1, mengacu kepada penemuan pertama yang dilakukan menggunakan teleskop [[TRAPPIST]] yang berfungsi melihat perpindahan planet.
