We have confirmation that a separate plant is orbiting between two stars
Aaron Alien / Shurtsteck
After many years of observation, researchers finally understand how a couple of stars can keep a strong orbital dance with a bad planet.
In 2004, David Ramm At the University of Canterbury in New Zealand a mysterious signal repetition while observing the action of a pair of stars in a system called nucttistis. It began a long debate if the signal evidence that this system includes a planet almost twice in the jupiter size, which some physicists think of the size of the two stars. Now, ramm and Man hi lee At the University of Hong Kong and their partners offer the most conclusive evidence that the nu octantis is truly a sixty rather than duo.
The key observation is that nucttis planet is retrograde – The planet and one star both orbit to the second star, but they do it in opposite directions, with a planet with a more powerful orbit of the second star. Lee says it’s unusual but makes the system configuration strong – even if it means the planet repeatedly moves in the narrow space between two stars. His team knows that there is a lot of security to thank the development of measurement devices, such as harps harps in Chile. The fact that the planet’s signal continued many years of observation helped. “We’re sure (the planet) is true, because if it’s something like stellar activity, it doesn’t deserve the years of data,” Lee said.
But it is backward-shift planet Not only is the exotic part of NU octantis. Researchers use the larger European telescope super organizing, also in Chile, to know that one of these stars is a white dwarfwhich means the end of its life cycle, which has become shorter. Lee says it’s complex in numbertantantic history because the mathematical models in the past shows that the current orbit of the planet is impossible if this star is younger, the more brightest.
So, the planet used to orbit two stars once, but after moving a trajectory if one of the two stars turned into a white dwarf, or it was formed from the Mass that was a white dwarf. Future observations, and more mathematical models, can be determined by which situations are likely to occur, but both novel, Lee said.
For centuries, star guards were used to repair cosmic arrangements such as the solar system in which all the planets were orbiting a central star in the same direction, as Manfred cuntz At the University of Texas in Arlington. “It invites scientists to think of a more separate scenarios and planet about two forms and evolution,” he said.
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