They find a strange solar system with six planets and “extraordinary” characteristics

2023-11-29 18:51:26

A team of scientists led by Spanish astrophysicist Rafael Luque, from the University of Chicago (USA), has discovered the location of a strange solar system located in the star HD110067, in the northern constellation of Coma Berenices.

This star was already known by experts, but its exoplanets were not. Rafael Luque’s team has published his discovery in the famous magazine ‘Nature’. Luque himself has explained to EFE that it is a “very peculiar” system due to several characteristics.

The main reason is that it has not undergone major changes since its formation, something that is not common. It is one of the few known systems whose planets are completely in resonance, since they present patterns that repeat themselves as they move around their star.

This is an exceptional case, since the six located planets maintain that resonance with a precise rhythm and a unique pattern for each couple. This resonance happens at the beginning of the formation of the system, although during the first million years they usually go through some chaotic process that causes great changes, such as a very massive planet or a great impact.

In 99% of cases, the systems lose that resonance, as explained by Enric Pallé, signatory of the study and member of the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands.

He assures that it is an “extraordinary” system because it preserves its configuration since it was formed about a billion years ago, according to one estimate. Something that is also not very common is that the six planets transit in front of their star, according to the perspective from Earth.

It will allow history to be reconstructed

Thanks to the aforementioned characteristics, scientists will be able to reconstruct the history of this solar system since its formation, even determining what the disk of dust and gas from which it was formed was like, as noted by astrophysicist Enric Pallé.