Like peas in a pod, planets that form together tend to have similar size and spacing, observations by the W.M. Keck Observatory revealed.
That conclusion by an international team of researchers was a result of using the Maunakea telescope to observe 909 planets in 355 different star systems between 1,000 and 4,000 light years away.
Their work shows that our own solar system might be a bit unusual since the inner planets have large spaces between their orbits and come in diverse sizes. That could be a result of Jupiter and Saturn disturbing the solar system’s early structure.
“That planets in most systems are still similarly sized and regularly spaced suggests that perhaps they have been mostly undisturbed since their formation,” Keck said in a press release.
The observed planets were discovered by the Kepler space telescope, which has mostly identified planets orbiting close to their star.
Keck said the researchers hope to eventually see if there are Jupiter-like planets at large orbital distances in those systems.
Comments posted below are from readers. In no way do they represent the view of Oahu Publishing Inc. or this newspaper. This is a public forum.
Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content but the newspaper is under no obligation to do so. Comment posters are solely responsible under the Communications Decency Act for comments posted on this Web site. Oahu Publishing Inc. is not liable for messages from third parties.
IP and email addresses of persons who post are not treated as confidential records and will be disclosed in response to valid legal process.
Do not post:
If you believe that a commenter has not followed these guidelines, please click the FLAG icon below the comment.