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Our Solar System, with just one star in the sky, may be a bit of an oddball. Most of the stars in the Milky Way galaxy actually have at least one gravitationally bound stellar companion, meaning that two-starred worlds like Tatooine are probably not uncommon.
Star systems, however, are confined to a maximum of two stars. We've found systems of up to seven stars bound together in a complex orbital dance. And now, scientists have found what they believe may be a first for astronomy: an exoplanet orbiting a system of three stars, also known as a stellar trinary.
To be clear, exoplanets have been found in trinary systems before – orbiting just one of the stars in the system. If this new discovery is validated, though, the exoplanet will be in orbit around all three of the stars, which isn't something that's been seen previously.
Stars in the Milky Way are not usually born in isolation. Their birthplaces are massive molecular clouds, where dense clumps of gas collapse under gravity.
As these clumps spin, material in the cloud forms a disk that accretes onto the forming star. If this disk fragments, another star, or multiple stars, can start forming in the same place – a little stellar family of siblings. After the star is done forming, what's left of the disk can go on to form planets.
It's estimated that some 40 to 50 percent of stars have a binary companion, and another 20 percent are in systems that have three or more stars.
These systems will be quite gravitationally complex, which may make it difficult for smaller objects to stick around – but nevertheless, around 2.5 percent of exoplanets are estimated to be in these multiple systems consisting of three stars or more.
www.sciencealert.com
Star systems, however, are confined to a maximum of two stars. We've found systems of up to seven stars bound together in a complex orbital dance. And now, scientists have found what they believe may be a first for astronomy: an exoplanet orbiting a system of three stars, also known as a stellar trinary.
To be clear, exoplanets have been found in trinary systems before – orbiting just one of the stars in the system. If this new discovery is validated, though, the exoplanet will be in orbit around all three of the stars, which isn't something that's been seen previously.
Stars in the Milky Way are not usually born in isolation. Their birthplaces are massive molecular clouds, where dense clumps of gas collapse under gravity.
As these clumps spin, material in the cloud forms a disk that accretes onto the forming star. If this disk fragments, another star, or multiple stars, can start forming in the same place – a little stellar family of siblings. After the star is done forming, what's left of the disk can go on to form planets.
It's estimated that some 40 to 50 percent of stars have a binary companion, and another 20 percent are in systems that have three or more stars.
These systems will be quite gravitationally complex, which may make it difficult for smaller objects to stick around – but nevertheless, around 2.5 percent of exoplanets are estimated to be in these multiple systems consisting of three stars or more.
Mysterious World Appears to Be The First Exoplanet Ever Found Orbiting 3 Stars
Our Solar System, with just one star in the sky, may be a bit of an oddball.
www.sciencealert.com
