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synthdude
PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 5:52 pm    Post subject: Planet with 3 suns Reply with quote



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An extrasolar planet under three suns has been discovered in the constellation Cygnus by a planetary scientist at the California Institute of Technology using the 10-meter Keck I telescope in Hawaii.

The planet is slightly larger than Jupiter and, given that it has to contend with the gravitational pull of three bodies, promises to seriously challenge our current understanding of how planets are formed.

In the July 14 issue of Nature, Maciej Konacki, a senior postdoctoral scholar in planetary science at Caltech, reports on the discovery of the Jupiter-class planet orbiting the main star of the close-triple-star system known as HD 188753. The three stars are about 149 light-years from Earth and are about as close to one another as the distance between the sun and Saturn.

In other words, a viewer there would see three bright suns in the sky. In fact, the sun that the planet orbits would be a very large object in the sky indeed, given that the planet's "year" is only three and a half days long. And it would be yellow, because the main star of HD 188753 is very similar to our own sun. The larger of the other two suns would be orange, and the smaller red.

Konacki refers to the new type of planet as "Tatooine planets," because of the similarity to Luke Skywalker's view of his home planet's sky in the first Star Wars movie.

"The environment in which this planet exists is quite spectacular," says Konacki. "With three suns, the sky view must be out of this world-literally and figuratively."

However, Konacki adds that the fact that a planet can even exist in a multiple-star system is amazing in itself. Binary and multiple stars are quite common in the solar neigborhood, and in fact outnumber single stars by some 20 percent.

Researchers have found most of the extrasolar planets discovered so far by using a precision velocity technique that is easier to employ on studies of single stars. Experts generally avoided close-binary and close-multiple stars because the existing planet detection techniques fail for such complicated systems, and also because theories of solar-system formation suggested that planets were very unlikely to form in such environments.

Konacki's breakthrough was made possible by his development of a novel method that allows him to precisely measure velocities of all members of close-binary and close-multiple-star systems. He used the technique for a search for extrasolar planets in such systems with the Keck I telescope. The planet in the HD 188753 system is the first one from this survey.

"If we believe that the same basic processes lead to the formation of planets around single stars and components of multiple stellar systems, then such processes should be equally feasible, regardless of the presence of stellar companions," Konacki says. "Planets from complicated stellar systems will put our theories of planet formation to a strict test."

Scientists in 1995 discovered the first "hot Jupiter"-in other words, an extrasolar gas-giant planet with an orbital period of three to nine days. Today, more than 20 such planets are known to orbit other stars. These planets are believed to form in a disk of gas and condensed matter at or beyond three astronomical units (three times the 93-million-mile distance between the sun and Earth).

A sufficient amount of solid material exists at three astronomical units to produce a core capable of capturing enough gas to form a giant planet. After formation, these planets are believed to migrate inward to their present very close orbits.

If the parent star is orbited by a close stellar companion, then its gravitational pull can significantly truncate a protoplanetary disk around the main star. In the case of HD 188753, the two stellar companions would truncate the disk around the main star to a radius of only 1.3 astronomical units, leaving no space for a planet to form.

"How that planet formed in such a complicated setting is very puzzling. I believe there is yet much to be learned about how giant planets are formed," says Konacki. (<b>Source: Space Daily</b>)
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adam
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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aweeeeesome.. reminds me of my fav movie DarkCrystal hehe..
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ben
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



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i love to live in a place with many moons Smile
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Jeff
PostPosted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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haha..dark crystal! one of my favourites too!! i have it right here in DVD Smile

" THE GREAT CONJUNCTION IS AT HAND!!!"
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ben
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:07 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



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pinjam hehe
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adam
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 3:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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me too jeff!its next to my Labyrinth dvd hehe... its the first movie i watched.or at least the first one i can remember hehe..


"A gelfling hhhmMmm??"

i think thats the same company that sold its puppeteering rights or something like that to Sesame Street.


alala ben...tia tau malu haha...
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Jeff
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 4:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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OMG!!! labyrinth!! me too!!! i was really into Jennifer Connelly bcos of that movie and i actually learnt what david bowies music was all about too...i have a half done cover of his song "when the world falls down" somewhere in my hardrive, you know the song with she's in the ballroom and looking sooooo beautiful...DANG!!!! that song has a really mesmerizing bassline.
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the liar
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 10:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote



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wow... this forum is becoming some science forum. weird clouds, planets w/ three suns, jennifer conelly.

but the best thing about labyrinth is still seeing david bowie in those tights.
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adam
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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lol!! yeah man.. blardy cun kan hehe.. i remember freaking out to that movie when i was a kid cuz the idea seemed so real at the time with all the little creatures and stuff. that ball thing that bowie was doing is so trippy hehe..

oh..yeah it was directed by Jim Henson and produced by George Lucas.

one of the awesome scenes i could remember... that part where she fell down a hole with the talking hands.
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ben
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 12:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



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ishhh..pinjam!! Razz
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Jeff
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 1:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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Quote:
but the best thing about labyrinth is still seeing david bowie in those tights.

yea..his balls were staring out at you through the whole movie..hahaha. Modest gilrs had to watch the movie with their faces slightly averted so as not to meet its full glare...ahaha
hehe, i like the scene towards the end when theyre walking on the walls and stairs and its all upside down and trippy and shit...and david bowie singing that cool song..."all ive ever done, ive done for you..."
then theres the ballroom scene ofcourse, DANG!!

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ishhh..pinjam!!

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ben
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



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downloading~
Razz
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adam
PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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yeah!! wall+stairs scene!! hehe..
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