6 exoplanets have danced around “this star” for 4 billion years, providing new clues to the origin of the solar system!
According to comprehensive foreign media reports, astronomers recently stated that they found six exoplanets “dancing” perfectly around a nearby star called HD110067, which provides new clues to the formation of the solar system. The six planets orbit the bright star HD 110067, about 100 light-years from Earth. HD 110067 is part of the constellation Coma and can be seen from the Northern Hemisphere.
A @Nature paper reports the discovery of six exoplanets orbiting around a nearby bright star, HD 110067 in the Coma Berenices constellation. The planets have radii between that of Earth and Neptune. pic.twitter.com/xUsuUTa9kI
— Nature Portfolio (@NaturePortfolio) November 29, 2023
Adrien Leleu, a researcher at the University of Geneva, said that these planets are so close to their stars that six planets can fit into the orbits of Mercury and the sun. The research was published in the scientific journal Nature. Study co-author Li Lu pointed out that the size of these six very hot planets is between the Earth and Neptune. He also said that the composition of these six planets is similar to Neptune, that is, “a rocky core covered with a thick layer of gas.”
🗞 Six planets discovered thanks to their synchronized orbits around a Sun-like star called HD 110067, following a predictable rhythm called ‘resonance’.
— Institute of Space Sciences (ICE-CSIC) (@ice_csic) November 29, 2023
Scientists believe that these six “sub-Neptunes” are not far enough from their stars to contain a key ingredient for supporting life, namely liquid water. Although not suitable for life, they orbit each other in an amazingly precise synchronization. These six planets move in a subtle dance called “orbital resonance”. They are pulled by each other’s gravity and move according to specific orbital rules. When the first planet orbits three times, the second planet orbits exactly two times. When the second planet orbits three times, the third planet orbits two times, and so on.
《A resonant sextuplet of sub-Neptunes transiting the bright star HD 110067》Nature圖片
Li Lu said that when the last planet orbits once, the first planet can orbit 6 times, which proves that there is a “resonance chain” between these 6 planets. Since humans first discovered exoplanets outside our solar system in 1995, more than 5,000 exoplanets have been discovered so far, but this is the first example of a system operating in such harmony.
Institute of Space Sciences official website picture
Rafael Luque, the lead author of the study and a scholar at the University of Chicago, pointed out that theoretically, this is the origin of all planetary systems.
NASA announced that it used the Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes to capture the “Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster”, which is the most detailed image of the universe to date.
The “MACS 0416” galaxy cluster, which is about 4.3 billion light-years away from the Earth, was photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2014. This year, the Webb Space Telescope was also aimed at this galaxy cluster. The Hubble Space Telescope mainly uses visible light wavelengths to observe the universe. That’s the wavelength that the human eye can see, and the Webb telescope focused on infrared light. Astronomers combined the two perspectives to create one of the most comprehensive images of the universe ever created.
Tis the season! Behold the Christmas Tree Galaxy Clusterhttps://t.co/jop3m6flFk#science #today
— Pure Science 🔭🔬🧪🚀🧬🦖 (@Pur3Science) November 10, 2023
The researchers said, “We are building on Hubble and pushing toward farther distances and fainter objects. Only by combining Webb data with Hubble data will the whole picture become clear.”
AP pictures
Two galaxy clusters in the “MACS 0416” galaxy cluster are merging and will eventually form a huge galaxy cluster, also known as the “Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster”. Scientists said that the “Christmas Tree Galaxy Cluster” In addition to the colorful colors, flickering light was also found inside. This so-called “transient phenomenon” may be the sharp amplification of brightness caused by the supernova explosion.
IG picture @nasa
