Astronomers have discovered a unique family of six exoplanets orbiting a star, and the one they are most excited about is the first one they discovered in the system – a “super Earth.”
The star is located in the constellation Aquarius and is called HD 158259. The star is about 1.4 times the size of our Sun and about 3300 light years away from Earth.
The super Earth, as the researchers have named it, is the third-closest planet to the star, and it orbits at 1/20th the distance the Earth-Sun. This means that it probably receives about the same amount of energy from its star as the Earth does from the Sun. The planet is larger than Earth, but still significantly smaller than giant planets like Neptune and Saturn.
The other planets were first detected by the team using the transit method. This method allows researchers to measure the regular ‘dips’ in the light coming from the star as the planets pass between it and the Earth.
What sets this system of exoplanets apart is the curious ‘rhythm’ of their orbits which suggests that the outer five planets are influenced, and kept in a stable alignment, by the innermost super Earth.
The innermost planet is the most massive of the exoplanets at around four times the mass of Earth and has the strongest gravitational pull. This would explain why the orbits of the other five planets, have remained in alignment for billions of years and remain stable today.
This new discovery is incredibly exciting for astronomers as it gives us an insight into the development of planetary systems. From the rhythmic pattern of the orbits we can gain an understanding of how the outer planets interact with the star and influence each other to keep their orbits stable.
This unique system of exoplanets could teach us a lot about how our own solar system formed and evolved. It is sure to make for some fascinating studies and provide astronomers with plenty of new data to ponder.