Skip to comments.
Triple Sunset: Planet Discovered in 3-Star System
space.com ^
| 07/13/05
| Michael Schirber
Posted on 07/13/2005 5:07:51 PM PDT by KevinDavis
A newly discovered planet has bountiful sunshine, with not one, not two, but three suns glowing in its sky.
It is the first extrasolar planet found in a system with three stars. How a planet was born amidst these competing gravitational forces will be a challenge for planet formation theories.
"The environment in which this planet exists is quite spectacular," said Maciej Konacki from the California Institute of Technology. "With three suns, the sky view must be out of this world -- literally and figuratively."
The triple-star system, HD 188753, is located 149 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus. The primary star is like our Sun, weighing 1.06 solar masses. The other two stars form a tightly bound pair, which is separated from the primary by approximately the Sun-Saturn distance.
"The pair more or less acts as one star," Konacki told SPACE.com.
The combined mass of the close pair is 1.63 solar masses
(Excerpt) Read more at space.com ...
TOPICS: Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: astronomy; earth2; exoplanets; science; space; starwars; tatooine; xplanets
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-44 next last
When do you think that we will find a Earth like planet??
To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; anymouse; RadioAstronomer; NonZeroSum; jimkress; discostu; ...
2
posted on
07/13/2005 5:08:52 PM PDT
by
KevinDavis
(the space/future belongs to the eagles, the earth/past to the groundhogs)
To: KevinDavis
Hundreds have been found - getting there will be a bitch.
3
posted on
07/13/2005 5:12:33 PM PDT
by
Solamente
To: KevinDavis
4
posted on
07/13/2005 5:12:37 PM PDT
by
Irish_Thatcherite
(Terrorism is the modern name we give barbarism.)
To: KevinDavis
Ready for launch!
5
posted on
07/13/2005 5:12:43 PM PDT
by
JOE6PAK
("a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.")
To: Irish_Thatcherite; All
One would make a killing when someone sells sunblocker..
6
posted on
07/13/2005 5:15:23 PM PDT
by
KevinDavis
(the space/future belongs to the eagles, the earth/past to the groundhogs)
To: KevinDavis
Is it a red planet or a blue planet?
7
posted on
07/13/2005 5:25:03 PM PDT
by
Buck W.
(Yesterday's Intelligentsia are today's Irrelevantsia.)
To: Irish_Thatcherite
"When's sunrise?" Good question! - Asuming that they really have found this planet, there is no way that they can determine if it is rotating. Sounds like a real hot spot.
8
posted on
07/13/2005 5:28:12 PM PDT
by
editor-surveyor
(Atheist and Fool are synonyms; Evolution is where fools hide from the sunrise)
To: Gorzaloon
9
posted on
07/13/2005 5:28:50 PM PDT
by
Beaker
To: KevinDavis
At the rate our imaging and detection technology is advancing I think we'll spot something "earthlike" within the next ten years.
10
posted on
07/13/2005 5:29:18 PM PDT
by
cripplecreek
(Frantickitten must die..)
To: Solamente
Hundreds have been found - getting there will be a bitch.
But we know where they are. And the first step in going somewhere is to know where you are going.
To: KevinDavis
I've always loved these "artist's renditions"...
12
posted on
07/13/2005 5:45:18 PM PDT
by
Redcloak
(We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singin' "whiskey for my men and beer for my horses!")
To: KevinDavis
Nightfall by Azimov
13
posted on
07/13/2005 5:46:48 PM PDT
by
muir_redwoods
(Free Sirhan Sirhan, after all, the bastard who killed Mary Jo Kopeckne is walking around free)
To: KevinDavis
Rent the movie Pitch Black. They depict 3 suns around that planet also.
To: Paul C. Jesup
Here's a map for this one...
It's the one dead-center in the picture.
;-)
15
posted on
07/13/2005 6:09:01 PM PDT
by
Redcloak
(We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces singin' "whiskey for my men and beer for my horses!")
To: Irish_Thatcherite
Vin Diesel will know !! ( Pitch Black)
16
posted on
07/13/2005 6:20:52 PM PDT
by
Renegade
To: KevinDavis
When do you think that we will find a Earth like planet?? Step outdoors. That is probably the only one, although it might be possible to find one of the right mass, etc. Venus or Mars, for example, and get Kyoto to suggest an economic way to improve the climate.
17
posted on
07/13/2005 6:21:26 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty)
To: RightWhale
When do you think that we will find a Earth like planet?? Step outdoors. That is probably the only one, although it might be possible to find one of the right mass, etc. Venus or Mars, for example, and get Kyoto to suggest an economic way to improve the climate. Possibly, what do base your opinion on?
18
posted on
07/13/2005 6:26:14 PM PDT
by
MilspecRob
(Most people don't act stupid, they really are.)
To: MilspecRob
I know what I see. I don't see another earthlike planet aside from Mars and Venus.
19
posted on
07/13/2005 6:27:38 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(withdraw from the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty)
To: editor-surveyor
The planet MUST be rotating. However if the planet rotates like our moon rotates in relationship to earth than there may be no sunrise. (I assume this is what you meant to say.)
20
posted on
07/13/2005 6:29:41 PM PDT
by
TaMoDee
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-20, 21-40, 41-44 next 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.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson