Posted on 07/15/2005 4:08:14 AM PDT by eagle11
Newly discovered planet has 3 suns Scientists puzzled at how such a planet could form
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.
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
ping
Tatooine?
FYI
Maybe they've discovered Heaven. And it looks like the Caribbean.
A planet with abundant light. And every few thousand years they discover ... Nightfall.
A 3.5 day orbit. The tidal forces on this planet must be astounding.
You're right ... I was confused with the three moons of Na-Nupp.
If W had signed Kyoto, there'd ony be two suns and this planet's global warming problems wouldn't be so accute!
You, too? I get snagged on that all the time.
Thought of the same book!
"How that planet formed in such a complicated setting is very puzzling. I believe there is yet much to be learned about how giant planets are formed," Konacki said.
Could it be a runaway planet from another system?
In the artist's conception, there is the one large sun, the two (apparently) small suns in the distance, and a large moon. Is the large moon known to exist?
Also, could a planet orbit a binary star system in a figure 8?
 |
||
| · join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · | ||
| Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar · | ||
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.