Astronomical phenomena tend to occur over time spans much smaller than human size — galaxies change over millions and billions of years, not decades. But new time-lapse observations of the distant star system show its movement over a period of just 12 years, packed into just a few seconds.
That star, known as HR8799, is him The first planetary system outside the solar system ever directly. Recently, Jason Wang, a professor of astrophysics at Northwestern University, used more than ten years of system observations to create a five-second animation depicting the motions of four massive planets orbiting a star. Wang and colleagues collected data over 12 years using the Keck Observatory in Hawaii.
Money says deep Northwestern press release. “For example, it’s not clear whether Jupiter or Mars orbit our sun because we live in the same system and we don’t have a top-down view. Astronomical events occur too fast or too slow to capture on film. But this video shows the planets moving on human timescales. I hope this video lets people enjoy something amazing.”
HR8799 is located more than 130 light years from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus. The star has a mass 1.5 times that of the Sun and is about five times as bright. Four giant planets call the star home, each larger than our own Jupiter. The innermost planet takes about 45 years to complete its orbit, while the outer planet takes nearly five centuries. (Neptune, the most distant known planet in our solar system, orbits the sun every 165 years.)
“There’s nothing scientific to gain from watching a tropical system in a time-lapse video, but it helps others to appreciate what we learn,” said Wang. “It’s hard to explain the nuances of science in words. But demonstrating science in action helps others understand its importance.”
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Wang’s current animation isn’t his first; Produced by researcher A Similar and shorter animations In 2017 after seven years of monitoring data. Wang’s animation provides a real perspective on planetary motion—a phenomenon we may only be able to simulate or read about beforehand.
Correction: An earlier version of the title of this story said the system was 130 million light years from Earth, when in reality it was 130 light years away.
