Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Astronomers discover nearby six-planet solar system with 'pristine configuration'
Accuweather ^ | November 30, 2023 | Ashley Strickland, CNN

Posted on 12/01/2023 8:55:50 AM PST by SunkenCiv

Astronomers have used two different exoplanet-detecting satellites to solve a cosmic mystery and reveal a rare family of six planets located about 100 light-years from Earth...

The six exoplanets orbit a bright star similar to the sun named HD110067, which is located in the Coma Berenices constellation in the northern sky. Larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, the planets are in a little-understood class called sub-Neptunes commonly found orbiting sunlike stars in the Milky Way. And the planets, labeled b through g, revolve around the star in a celestial dance known as orbital resonance...

For every six orbits completed by planet b, the closest planet to the star, the outermost planet g completes one.

As planet c makes three revolutions around the star, planet d does two, and when planet e completes four orbits, planet f does three.

This harmonic rhythm creates a resonant chain, with all six planets aligning every few orbits...

Researchers first took notice of the star system in 2020 when NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, detected dips in the brightness of HD110067... Detecting these dips in luminosity, known as the transit method, is one of the main strategies used by scientists to identify exoplanets via ground and space-based telescopes...

Two years later, TESS observed the star again, and the evidence suggested different orbital periods for those planets.

When the data sets didn't add up, astronomer and lead study author Rafael Luque and some of his colleagues decided to take another look at the star using a different satellite — the European Space Agency's CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, or Cheops. While TESS is used to observe fractions of the night sky for short observations, Cheops observes one star at a time.

(Excerpt) Read more at accuweather.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; hd110067; science; xplanets
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-35 last
To: SunkenCiv
Presumably gravity causes this pattern...so it's all Isaac Newton's fault.

The earth, Venus and the sun are in the same relative position to each other once every 584 days. Five times 584 is 2,920. The earth orbits the sun once every 365 days. Eight times 365 is 2,920. So there is a 5-8 relationship. The earth influences Venus by its gravitational pull and vice versa.

The light from this planetary system has been on its way here since about the time Henry Kissinger was born.

21 posted on 12/01/2023 9:44:01 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PIF

If the universe is fractal then we should expect a ridiculously large number of stars with multiple planets.

When it comes to astronomy we are like blind cave men poking sticks at trees as we stumble out of the cave.


22 posted on 12/01/2023 9:47:34 AM PST by cgbg ("Creative minds have always been known to survive any kind of bad training." Anna Freud.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: xp38

From later in the article:

“The closest planet takes just over nine Earth days to complete an orbit around the star, and the most distant takes about 55 days. All of the planets have quicker revolutions around their star than Mercury, which takes 88 days to complete one lap around the sun.

Given how close they are to HD110067, the planets likely have blistering average temperatures similar to Mercury and Venus, ranging between 332 degrees Fahrenheit and 980 degrees Fahrenheit (167 degrees Celsius and 527 degrees Celsius).”

This information definitely puts HD110067 into the “Don’t bother visiting” category.


23 posted on 12/01/2023 9:50:55 AM PST by Captain Rhino (Determined effort today forges tomorrow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Captain Rhino

There could easily be other planets in that system still undetected.


24 posted on 12/01/2023 9:57:49 AM PST by dragnet2 (Diversion and evasion are tools of deceit)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Verginius Rufus

Kepler. :^)

The tidal transfer of momentum from the Sun has been slowly pushing the planets outward since they formed.

The influence of planets on moons or other planets varies by mass and distance, and since it’s square of the distance under consideration, it tends to have the more significant impact. To put it into perspective, the tides on the Earth’s seas and oceans are 2/3 due to the Moon (avg distance 238K miles; 1 percent the mass of the Earth) and 1/3 the Sun (93 million miles; 333K times the mass of the Earth).


25 posted on 12/01/2023 10:36:15 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

When it comes to astronomy we are like blind cave men poking sticks at trees as we stumble out of the cave.

rephrased:
When it comes to astronomy, we are blind men, without any notion of vision.

There are structures in the universe that cannot be explained by any possible natural mechanism. See Tabby’s Star and 15 similar structures.


26 posted on 12/01/2023 10:51:43 AM PST by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper

Are you thinking what I’m thinking? Let’s strip mine it and leave the poisonous trailings behind for the next settlers to clean-up.


27 posted on 12/01/2023 10:56:23 AM PST by BipolarBob (Yes officer, I saw the speed limit sign. I just didn't see you.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Captain Rhino

killjoy.....back to alpha centaurii until we find something pleasant


28 posted on 12/01/2023 11:02:02 AM PST by xp38
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: Captain Rhino

Maybe they have one side always facing their star so it’s only hot on that side. Of course it would be bitterly cold on the dark side, but maybe it’s temperate right on the border between the hot and cold zones—the twilight zone.


29 posted on 12/01/2023 11:26:03 AM PST by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
Pristine /prĭs′tēn″, prĭ-stēn′/ adjective

What is the evidence?
I could swear that I can see some plastic bottles and condoms laying around on planet "c"...

30 posted on 12/01/2023 12:15:59 PM PST by SuperLuminal (Where is the next Sam Adams when we so desperately need him)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Verginius Rufus

Based on my extensive education on astronomy (received from YouTube videos), astrophysicists generally theorize that there needs to be an atmosphere before any moderation of temperatures between day side and night side occurs in tidally locked planets. Given how close they are estimated to be to their sun and their estimated temperatures, they probably don’t have atmospheres (being long since stripped away by solar wind from their sun).

In addition, considering how close in their orbits are, the star may be in the process of consuming the planets.

On a completely unrelated matter, I read the Wikipedia biography entry for your username. How did you come to choose this noteworthy Roman general?


31 posted on 12/01/2023 12:55:49 PM PST by Captain Rhino (Determined effort today forges tomorrow.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: Captain Rhino

I took a seminar on Tacitus once and the professor talked about Verginius Rufus. The historian Tacitus gave the eulogy at his funeral. He was a shining example of how one can be a person of integrity in the midst of tyranny and corruption.


32 posted on 12/01/2023 1:06:51 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: SuperLuminal

Yeah, that was a great night, those ETs really knew how to party.


33 posted on 12/01/2023 9:10:23 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Orbiting in a circle while the planets in our solar sytem orbit in an elipse.


34 posted on 12/02/2023 6:50:02 AM PST by ops33 (SMSgt, USAF, Retired)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Berlin_Freeper
"Let's go crap it up!"

I was thinking the same thing -- a Starship full of Fritos and canned chili and plastic utensils and Ikea sofas -- until:

"Given how close they are to HD110067, the planets likely have blistering average temperatures similar to Mercury and Venus, ranging between 332 degrees Fahrenheit and 980 degrees Fahrenheit (167 degrees Celsius and 527 degrees Celsius)."

35 posted on 12/11/2023 4:24:20 AM PST by StAnDeliver (TrumpII)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-35 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson