"Since the Kepler Space Telescope began its prowl for exoplanets in 2009, it has uncovered a strange pattern among these alien worlds: their orbits follow a consistent rhythm. If one planet in a system takes twice as long to orbit its star as the planet before it, for instance, then the next planet should take another two times as long, and so on. But a strange few planetary systems don't abide by this peas-in-a-pod rule."
"During a January 7 presentation at the American Astronomical Society's 247th meeting in Phoenix, Federico Noguer, an undergraduate at Arizona State University (ASU), revealed one particularly curious exception to this trend. The star TOI-1873about 600 light-years from Earthhosts three large planets just a bit smaller than Neptune. The trio was discovered in data from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), and two of the planets were first noticed through a volunteer science project called Planet Hunters TESS."
"The observations show that the two innermost planets take about seven and 25 days to circle their host star, respectively, suggesting that the orbit of each planet in this system should be about 3.6 times as long as that of the last. It should follow, then, that the third planet passes by the host star once every 90 days or so. But between each of the three times TESS observed the third planet, a staggering 900 days had passed."
Kepler established that many multi-planet systems show regular orbital period ratios, producing predictable rhythmic spacing. TOI-1873 hosts three large planets slightly smaller than Neptune discovered in TESS data, with two planets first flagged by Planet Hunters TESS. The inner planets orbit in about seven and 25 days, implying a ~3.6× period ratio and predicting a roughly 90-day orbit for the third planet. TESS observed the third planet three times, but each observed transit was separated by roughly 900 days. The planet's true period could be shorter if transits were missed but must be at least 128 days, and further observations are needed to resolve the system's dynamics.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]