{"id":23465,"date":"2021-01-25T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-01-25T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=23465"},"modified":"2021-01-25T01:23:54","modified_gmt":"2021-01-25T06:23:54","slug":"eso-five-exoplanets-found-locked-in-a-rhythmic-dance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=23465","title":{"rendered":"ESO: Five exoplanets found locked in a rhythmic dance"},"content":{"rendered":"

The latest report from the European Southern Observatory (ESO<\/a>):<\/p>\n

Puzzling six-exoplanet system with rhythmic movement
\nchallenges theories of how planets form<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
This artist\u2019s impression shows the view from the planet in the TOI-178 system found orbiting furthest from the star. New research by Adrien Leleu and his colleagues with several telescopes, including ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope, has revealed that the system boasts six exoplanets and that all but the one closest to the star are locked in a rare rhythm as they move in their orbits.\u00a0 But while the orbital motion in this system is in harmony, the physical properties of the planets are more disorderly, with significant variations in density from planet to planet. This contrast challenges astronomers\u2019 understanding of how planets form and evolve. This artist\u2019s impression is based on the known physical parameters for the planets and the star seen, and uses a vast database of objects in the Universe.Credits: ESO<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Using a combination of telescopes, including the Very Large Telescope of the European Southern Observatory (ESO\u2019s VLT), astronomers have revealed a system consisting of six exoplanets, five of which are locked in a rare rhythm around their central star. The researchers believe the system could provide important clues about how planets, including those in the Solar System, form and evolve.<\/p>\n

The first time the team observed TOI-178, a star some 200 light-years away in the constellation of Sculptor, they thought they had spotted two planets going around it in the same orbit. However, a closer look revealed something entirely different.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough further observations we realised that there were not two planets orbiting the star at roughly the same distance from it, but rather multiple planets in a very special configuration,\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

says Adrien Leleu from the Universit\u00e9 de Gen\u00e8ve and the University of Bern, Switzerland, who led a new study of the system published today in Astronomy & Astrophysics.<\/p>\n

The new research has revealed that the system boasts six exoplanets and that all but the one closest to the star are locked in a rhythmic dance as they move in their orbits. In other words, they are in resonance. This means that there are patterns that repeat themselves as the planets go around the star, with some planets aligning every few orbits. A similar resonance is observed in the orbits of three of Jupiter\u2019s moons: Io, Europa and Ganymede. Io, the closest of the three to Jupiter, completes four full orbits around Jupiter for every orbit that Ganymede, the furthest away, makes, and two full orbits for every orbit Europa makes.<\/p>\n