New solar system has planetary orbits sharing star’s rotational plane
JUL 26, 2012
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026201
Science : A 30-month study of a distant solar system has revealed that all three of the system’s known planets orbit not only within a few degrees of their star’s equatorial plane but also in the same rotational sense as the star. Although that form of solar system organization is familiar from our own solar system, it had not been previously confirmed elsewhere. Using NASA’s Kepler spacecraft, astronomers observed the transits of the three planets around their star, which is similar in size and mass to the Sun. The transits showed that the planets’ orbital planes were more or less parallel, a characteristic that had been detected in a few other solar systems. But thanks to a large dark spot on the star’s surface, the researchers could also determine that the planetary orbits and the star’s rotation are aligned.
© 2012 American Institute of Physics
