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In one of the most iconic scenes from the original “Star Wars” movie, Luke Skywalker watches two suns set on his home planet. While a planet with two sunsets may seem like the kind of thing that only happens in sci-fi movies, it doesn’t at all. In fact, a solar system that hosts two stars is not uncommon; it is believed that half of all star systems consist of two or more stars that are gravitationally related to each other. Astronomers have also discovered at least 20 “circumbinary exoplanets,” meaning planets outside of our solar system that orbit two stars.
But what about a planet that orbits three stars at a time? Is such a thing possible? Astronomers have long suspected that planets are less likely to last long in three-star systems, due to the chaotic nature of three-body systems. This is in part because the long-term movement of a three-star system is likely to be chaotic; For a solar system to last millions of years like ours, it would need long-term stability in the movement of its larger bodies. (Notably, there have been planets discovered in trinary, although these worlds orbit only one or two of the three stars in this system.)
Still, the universe is full of surprises, and new astronomical data suggests that there is at least one such planet orbiting three suns at a time.
Therefore, in a distant star system called GW Ori, located 1,300 light years from Earth, researchers and astronomers may have just discovered the first known planet to orbit not one, or two, but three stars. , according to a new study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Thanks to observations from the powerful Atacama Large Millimeter / submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile, astronomers had the opportunity to observe a ring of dust, which is important for the formation of planets, around the three stars of this star system. distant.
Intrigued by the appearance of the dust ring, researchers like Jeremy Smallwood, lead author of the study and recent graduate of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas with a doctorate. in astronomy, took a closer look.
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“What we find is that when we look at this disc through our telescopes, we see a big gap,” Smallwood said. “And it’s not clear how the gap formed, but our scenario is that a planet is currently forming in the disk, then, as the planet orbits around the three stars. The planet actually brings it all together. the gas that surrounds it and creates a hole in the disc. “
The planet’s orbit through the dusty disc essentially clears a path, creating an imprint that Smallwood and his colleagues were able to observe. Of course, given that this star system is so far away, it’s impossible to see exactly what’s going on – which is why the astronomy team turned to modeling to help understand what’s going on.
“From our simulations, we found out that this planet is indeed digging a space in this disk, and we kind of matched that up with the observations and they agree well,” Smallwood said. “We can’t see the planet directly, so it’s just a possibility because of the space in the disk.”
What additional information do scientists need to confirm this theory?
“I think the answer to every question on this topic is that we just need more, higher resolution observations,” Smallwood said. “We need to point more telescopes at this system.”
Further observations from the ALMA telescope are expected in the coming months. Still, Smallwood and his team are able to theorize specific characteristics of this hypothetical planet, one being that if it forms in this disk, it will likely be a gas giant like Jupiter. Scientists know that these large planets are probably the first to form in a star system; terrestrial planets, like Earth, form later.
Smallwood told Salon that not only will this hypothetical planet be a first for astronomers, but it could change the way astronomers think about the formation of planets.
“We know a bunch of planets in triple star systems, but we don’t know of any planets that orbit all three stars. Some orbit a star in a triple star system, but no planet has been. discovery orbiting all three. ” Smallwood said. “If there is a disk present, you can assume that planets will form in that disk, but if there is a planet orbiting all three stars, it actually makes the formation of the planets more robust.”
This means, Smallwood said, that the formation of planets can occur in a “wide variety of environments.”
“So you just don’t need planetary formation around one star, you can have planetary formation around two, three, or maybe four stars,” Smallwood said.
Could it be possible that if this planet orbiting three stars, there would be three sunsets? Unfortunately, that’s unlikely, Smallwood said. In GW Ori, two stars are very close to each other, and the third is a little further away.
“You would only see two points of light in the sky because the planet is so far away,” Smallwood said. “If your planet were a little closer, you would probably make out the three stars, but since this planet is quite far away, you would probably see two points of light in the sky.”
Smallwood added, “But I don’t know how day and night would work if you saw the three stars in the sky, it might get a little complicated.”
We’ll leave that to the science fiction writers for now.
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