Bizarre rocky exoworld - with what appears to be a normal day-night cycle - orbits so close to its parent star that the morning heat melts its surface.
Numerous exoplanets are orbiting their host star in a very unusual but precise “rhythm”. Scientists made this discovery by focusing on the system’s rhythmic orbital dance.
When astronomers analyzed data collected by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), they initially discovered three planets orbiting a star called TOI-178. But when they looked more closely at the system, they found that the planets were orbiting in a type of precise rhythm with each other. And after further analysis, they discovered that there are at least six planets in the system.
What’s even more interesting is that the planets are very different from one another. Experts were able to determine that these six planets are anywhere from 1.1 times to 3 times larger than Earth and they all have different densities, from being a rocky super-Earth-like planet to a gassy mini-Neptune.
5 planets found in unusual rhythmic dance around a star 200 light-years away
Astronomers have discovered a planetary system including six planets and it’s not quite like anything they’ve seen before. The system could challenge the theories scientists have about how planets form and change over time.
Our solar system is just one of many planetary systems, and so far, no two systems are alike. The systems vary in the number and type of planets they contain.
About 200 light-years away from us is the star TOI-178, found in the Sculptor constellation. The research team initially thought there were only two stars orbiting the planet.