Space
Alien Solar System Does Exist
Brooke Miller
First Posted: Jul 26, 2012 06:22 AM EDT
Our solar system isn't unique anymore. This is because astronomers have detected an alien solar system whose planets are arranged in a similar manner to ours. The assumption that our solar system was the only one around is laid to rest with some interesting data collected from NASA's Kepler space telescope.
Kepler has spotted a trio of planets orbiting around a sun-like star that is very similar to the layout of our solar system. Kepler-30 that is 10,000 light years away from the Earth spotted that the three known orbital worlds all orbit in the same plane.
The discovery supports the idea that planets emerge from relatively flat discs of material encircling stars and, at first, orbit neatly in the same plane.
"In agreement with the theory, we have found the star's spin to be aligned with the planets," said study co-author Dan Fabrycky, of the University of California, Santa Cruz. "So this result is profound because it is basic data testing the standard planet formation theory."
This unique discovery was held by Roberto Sanchis Ojeda of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was later published in the journal Nature.
The newly detected planets that are odd in number are said to be four, nine and 12 times the size of the Earth and they circle bit far from their star that none of them are considered a hot Jupiter. It is the most unique discovery made till date as Kepler's targets are all hundreds to thousands.
James Lloyd, an assistant professor of Astronomy at Cornell University who was not involved in the research, said, "Studying planetary orbits may shed light on how life evolved in the universe - since in order to have a stable climate suitable for life, a planet needs to be in a stable orbit. In order to understand how common life is in the universe, ultimately we will need to understand how common stable planetary systems are. We may find clues in extrasolar planetary systems to help understand the puzzles of the solar system, and vice versa."
According to Sanchis, Kepler will be an effective tool in studying more of such similar systems. They plan to implement the same technique for the newly detected 5 - 10 systems.
See Now:
NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone
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First Posted: Jul 26, 2012 06:22 AM EDT
Our solar system isn't unique anymore. This is because astronomers have detected an alien solar system whose planets are arranged in a similar manner to ours. The assumption that our solar system was the only one around is laid to rest with some interesting data collected from NASA's Kepler space telescope.
Kepler has spotted a trio of planets orbiting around a sun-like star that is very similar to the layout of our solar system. Kepler-30 that is 10,000 light years away from the Earth spotted that the three known orbital worlds all orbit in the same plane.
The discovery supports the idea that planets emerge from relatively flat discs of material encircling stars and, at first, orbit neatly in the same plane.
"In agreement with the theory, we have found the star's spin to be aligned with the planets," said study co-author Dan Fabrycky, of the University of California, Santa Cruz. "So this result is profound because it is basic data testing the standard planet formation theory."
This unique discovery was held by Roberto Sanchis Ojeda of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was later published in the journal Nature.
The newly detected planets that are odd in number are said to be four, nine and 12 times the size of the Earth and they circle bit far from their star that none of them are considered a hot Jupiter. It is the most unique discovery made till date as Kepler's targets are all hundreds to thousands.
James Lloyd, an assistant professor of Astronomy at Cornell University who was not involved in the research, said, "Studying planetary orbits may shed light on how life evolved in the universe - since in order to have a stable climate suitable for life, a planet needs to be in a stable orbit. In order to understand how common life is in the universe, ultimately we will need to understand how common stable planetary systems are. We may find clues in extrasolar planetary systems to help understand the puzzles of the solar system, and vice versa."
According to Sanchis, Kepler will be an effective tool in studying more of such similar systems. They plan to implement the same technique for the newly detected 5 - 10 systems.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone