A WORLD WITH THREE SUNS
A NASA –funded astronomers has discovered a world where the sun sets over the horizon, followed by a second sun and then a third. The new
planet, called HD 188753 Ab is the first known to reside in a classic triple-star system .The sky view from this planet would be spectacular with an occasional triple sunset, said Dr Maciej
konacki of the California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, Calif, who found the planet using the Keck I telescope atop Mauna Kea mountain in Hawaii. Before now, we had no clues about whether
planets could form in such gravitationally complex
systems.
The findings , reported in this week’s issue of a scientific journal, suggests that planets are mor4e robust than previously believed.
This is good news for planets, said Dr Shri Kulkarni, who overseas Konacki’s research at Caltech .Planets may live in all sorts of interesting neighborhoods that, until now, have gone largely unexplored , Kulkarni is the interdisciplinary scientist for NASA’s planned SIM Planet Quest mission, which search for signs of Earth-like worlds.
Systems with
multiple stars are widespread throughout the universe, accounting for more than half of all stars .Our Sun’s closest star, Alpha Centauri, is a member of a
trio.
Multiple –star systems have not been popular planet-hunting grounds said Konacki. They are difficult to observe and were believed to be inhospitable to planets.
The new planet belongs to a common class of extra-solar planets called
hot Jupiters, which are gas giants that zip closely around their parent stars .In this case, the planet whips every 3.3 days around a star that is circled every 25.7 years by a pirouetting pair of stars locked in a 156-day orbit.
The circus-like trio of stars is a cramped bunch fitting into the same amount of space as the distance between Saturn and our Sun .Such tight living quarters throw theories of hot Jupiter formation into question .Astronomers had thought that hot Jupiters formed far away from their parent stars, before migrating inward.
Sy6stems with multiple stars are widespread throughout the Universe, accounting for more than half of all stars. Our Sun’s closest star, Alpha Centauri, is a member of a trio .Multiple-star systems have not been popular planet-hunting grounds said Konacki .They are difficult to observe and were believed to be inhospitable to planets.
The new planet whips every 3.3 days around a star that is circled every 25.7 years by a pirouetting pair of stars locked in a 156-day orbit.
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