The innermost planet completes three orbits for every two by its closest neighbor. It's the same for the second- and third-closest planets, and the third- and fourth-closest planets.
The two outermost planets complete an orbit in 41 and 54.7 days, resulting in four orbits for every three. The innermost planet, meanwhile, completes six orbits in exactly the time the outermost completes one.
All solar systems, including our own, are thought to have started out like this one, according to the scientists. But it's estimated only 1-in-100 systems have retained that synchrony, and ours isn't one of them.
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While astronomers know of 40 to 50 in-sync solar systems, none have as many planets in such perfect step or as bright a star as this one, Palle said.
Why is ... that ... called "perfect synchrony"? There's a little video animation on this BBC article that makes little chimes when a planet finishes an orbit and...I don't get it.
Why is ... that ... called "perfect synchrony"? There's a little video animation on this BBC article that makes little chimes when a planet finishes an orbit and...I don't get it.
Their orbital frequencies are essentially harmonic frequencies. So for example, if the first planet has a period T, the next might have 2T, the next might have 4T, e.g. The observed solar system...
Their orbital frequencies are essentially harmonic frequencies. So for example, if the first planet has a period T, the next might have 2T, the next might have 4T, e.g. The observed solar system is going the same thing but with different ratios in place of 2:1.
In certain cases this can have a stabilizing effect on orbits, reducing the number of massive collisions like which we think were present in the early solar system, which have the effect of reprocessing the composition of different bodies. So in a solar system with minimal such collisions better reflects the primordial composition of the solar system. This is my understanding but I am not an expert.
Still kind of blows my mind that we can detect so many exoplanets this way now. Not only detect them, but also calculate their orbits well enough to discover patterns as obscure and wondrous as...
Still kind of blows my mind that we can detect so many exoplanets this way now. Not only detect them, but also calculate their orbits well enough to discover patterns as obscure and wondrous as this. Six little Neptunes buzzing along in pure, rhythmic orbits, undisturbed by major collisions since the system’s formation? Super sweet.
We can learn so much about the formation of solar systems, including our own, from this one. Finding the evidence must have felt like spotting a unicorn.
From reading the paper, they actually worked out the possible patterns and then discovered the planets by following those predictions. Which I think it pretty neat.
From reading the paper, they actually worked out the possible patterns and then discovered the planets by following those predictions. Which I think it pretty neat.
Why is ... that ... called "perfect synchrony"? There's a little video animation on this BBC article that makes little chimes when a planet finishes an orbit and...I don't get it.
Their orbital frequencies are essentially harmonic frequencies. So for example, if the first planet has a period T, the next might have 2T, the next might have 4T, e.g. The observed solar system is going the same thing but with different ratios in place of 2:1.
In certain cases this can have a stabilizing effect on orbits, reducing the number of massive collisions like which we think were present in the early solar system, which have the effect of reprocessing the composition of different bodies. So in a solar system with minimal such collisions better reflects the primordial composition of the solar system. This is my understanding but I am not an expert.
Still kind of blows my mind that we can detect so many exoplanets this way now. Not only detect them, but also calculate their orbits well enough to discover patterns as obscure and wondrous as this. Six little Neptunes buzzing along in pure, rhythmic orbits, undisturbed by major collisions since the system’s formation? Super sweet.
We can learn so much about the formation of solar systems, including our own, from this one. Finding the evidence must have felt like spotting a unicorn.
I wonder if any of them have any captured moons?
From reading the paper, they actually worked out the possible patterns and then discovered the planets by following those predictions. Which I think it pretty neat.
This isn't JWST; it's TESS and CHEOPS.
So satisfying. I can’t get my whole family to come to the table at the same time and there’s FOOD.
Better start observing their periods and serve the food when they all come into sync at one moment.