The planets around a star called TOI-178 know how to keep a beat — so smoothly, in fact, that scientists were able to discover new alien worlds by deciphering the system's music.
Astronomers poring through data from NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered three planets around a star dubbed TOI-178 (TOI stands for TESS Object of Interest). And when scientists looked at these observations more closely, they realized that the worlds seemed to be keeping time against each other. So they recruited some more instruments — and discovered the system hosts at least six planets, five of which tick off orbits in rhythm with the others.
Quite a lot has been going on:
Update on the 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby TRAPPIST-1 | Space | EarthSky
A new study of the seven Earth-sized exoplanets around TRAPPIST-1 indicate that all 7 planets are extremely similar to each other in makeup, but potentially quite different from Earth.
The 7 planets of the Trappist-1 system orbit their star at a distance that would easily fit within the orbit of Mercury. The system is actually more similar to Jupiter and its moons (top) than our solar system. Planets e, f and g are located within the habitable zone of Trappist-1. Image via NASA/JPL .
The 7 rocky planets orbiting TRAPPIST-1 may be made of similar stuff | UW News
The TRAPPIST-1 star system is home to the largest batch of roughly Earth-size planets ever found outside our solar system. Discovered in 2016 some 40 light-years away, these seven rocky siblings offer a glimpse at the tremendous variety of planetary systems that likely fill the universe.
A study accepted by the Planetary Science Journal shows that the planets share similar densities. That could mean they all contain roughly the same ratio of materials thought to be common to rocky planets, such as iron, oxygen, magnesium and silicon. If so, then while the TRAPPIST-1 planets might be similar to each other, they appear to differ notably from Earth: They're about 8% less dense than they would be if they had the same chemical composition as our planet.
A 'Megasatellite' Orbiting Ceres Would Make a Fine Home For Humans, Scientist Says
Given all the logistics involved, it's unlikely that humanity will ever see our way outside the Solar System to colonise exoplanets . But the possibility of settling elsewhere inside the Solar System isn't so far-fetched.
So is there anywhere else in the Solar System that humans could make our home? Well, according to physicist and astrobiologist Pekka Janhunen of the Finnish Meteorological Institute in Finland, dwarf planet Ceres isn't entirely implausible.
This may worth something:
About - Orbiting Hubble Interactive | NASA
Rare 'super-Earth' discovered orbiting one of the oldest stars in the Milky Way Galaxy
The exoplanet, appropriately named because it's found beyond our solar system, is known as the TOI-561b and is about 50 percent bigger than our Earth, according to Samantha Mathewson with Space.com.
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Rocky 'super-Earth' planet spotted orbiting one of the Milky Way's oldest stars https://t.co/jbHZmn0TP1 pic.twitter.com/D2CE6ujAxx
According to researchers, TOI-561b also has three times the mass our Earth does and only takes about 12 hours to complete one orbit around its host star.
Planets are Finally Being Discovered Orbiting Farther From Their Stars - Universe Today
Discovering exoplanets is a difficult job. Given the challenges, it’s amazing that we’ve found any at all. But astronomers are clever, so there are currently more than 4,300 confirmed exoplanets. They range from small Mercury-sized worlds to planets larger than Jupiter, but most of them have one thing in common: they orbit close to their home star.
This isn’t because most planets orbit close to their stars, but that our observations have a bias toward close-orbiting planets. The most common way to discover exoplanets is known as the transit method. This is where a planet passes in front of our view of a star, making the star dim slightly. It’s a simple idea in principle, but in practice it’s difficult. Stars vary in brightness by themselves due to things such as flares and starspots.
China’s first launch of 2021 orbits communications satellite – Spaceflight Now
A Chinese Long March 3B rocket deployed the Tiantong 1-03 satellite to provide mobile communications services after a successful launch Tuesday, the first of more than 40 Chinese space missions set for liftoff in 2021.
The 184-foot-tall (56-meter) Long March 3B rocket lifted off from the Xichang launch base at 11:25 a.m. EST (1625 GMT) Tuesday with the third satellite in the Tiantong 1 communications network, joining two others launched in 2016 and 2020, according to the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., known as CASC, the primary state-owned contractor for the Chinese space program.
Happening on Twitter
Scientists spot 6 alien worlds orbiting a star in strange — but precise — harmony https://t.co/q1du7dOe37 https://t.co/HRhKHb0mSU SPACEdotcom (from NYC) Mon Jan 25 17:54:33 +0000 2021
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