- Admin
- #1
Insider
Administrator
- Sep 6, 2024
- 161
- 0
Four planets locked in a rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be sent pinballing around their solar system when their sun eventually dies, a new study suggests.
Astronomers modelled how the change in gravitational forces in the system as a result of the star becoming a white dwarf will cause its planets to fly loose from their orbits and bounce off each other's gravity.
This is similar to balls bouncing off a bumper in a game of pinball.
During this process the planets will knock nearby debris into their dying sun, offering scientists new insight into how white dwarfs with polluted atmospheres originally evolved.
The HR 8799 system is 135 light years away and is made up of a 30-40 million-year-old A type star and four unusually massive planets.
The planets are more than five times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting very close to each other.
www.rte.ie
Astronomers modelled how the change in gravitational forces in the system as a result of the star becoming a white dwarf will cause its planets to fly loose from their orbits and bounce off each other's gravity.
This is similar to balls bouncing off a bumper in a game of pinball.
During this process the planets will knock nearby debris into their dying sun, offering scientists new insight into how white dwarfs with polluted atmospheres originally evolved.
The HR 8799 system is 135 light years away and is made up of a 30-40 million-year-old A type star and four unusually massive planets.
The planets are more than five times the mass of Jupiter, orbiting very close to each other.
Death of star will start 'game of pinball' for planets
Four planets locked in a rhythm around a nearby star are destined to be sent pinballing around their solar system when their sun eventually dies, a new study suggests.