SPACE — Astronomers have discovered a rare planetary system consisting of six planets. According to astronomers, this system of 6 planets with the star HD 110067 has a very synchronous orbit.
Reporting from CBSnews, a discovery announced on Wednesday (29/11), could help explain how the solar system in the Milky Way galaxy formed. This system is 100 light years away in the constellation Coma Berenices.
One light year is equal to 5.8 trillion miles. This system was discovered by a pair of planet-hunting satellites belonging to the American Space Agency (NASA) and Cheops belonging to the European Space Agency (ESA).
“The planets are in perfect synchronous orbits with each other. “We’re looking at what the solar system looked like billions of years ago, even what our solar system looked like billions of years ago,” said Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
Uniquely, there is not a single planet that is in perfect synchronization within the star’s habitable zone. This means that there is little possibility of life there.
The star HD 110067 may have more planets. The six planets discovered so far are roughly two to three times the size of Earth, but their densities approach that of gas giants in our solar system such as the planet Jupiter.
Pitts said most of the planets are smaller than Neptune. Their orbits range from nine to 54 days. This means that this planet’s orbit is closer to its star than Venus is to the sun, making it very hot.
As gas planets, these planets are believed to have solid cores made of rock, metal or ice, enveloped by a thick layer of hydrogen. Further observations are needed to determine what is in the atmospheres of those planets.
According to scientists, this system is unique because the six planets move like a perfectly synchronized symphony. In technical terms, this is known as precise and highly regular resonance.
The star’s nearest planet completes three orbits for every two orbits of its nearest neighbor. The same goes for the second and third closest planets, as well as the third and fourth closest planets.
The two outer planets complete their orbits in 41 and 54.7 days, resulting in four orbits for every three days. Meanwhile, the innermost planet completes six orbits at exactly the same time as the outermost planet completes one orbit.
According to scientists, all solar systems, including our own, are thought to have started like this. However, it is estimated that only 1 in 100 systems maintains this synchronization, and our Solar System is not one of them.
Giant planets can throw everything into chaos. Likewise, meteor showers, close encounters with neighboring stars, and other disturbances can change the synchronization.
Although astronomers know of 40 to 50 synchronous solar systems, none have such perfect planets or stars as bright as these.
2023-12-01 03:23:00
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