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A team of researchers has discovered a gas giant roughly the size of Jupiter orbiting a companion star smaller than our own sun. The discovery has upended current thinking on the limitations of planet formation in the universe.
NGTS-1b is the largest planet relative to its star ever discovered in the universe and dispels pre-existing theories that average-sized stars could not form gas giant planets of such immense size. It's also the first planet discovered by the the
Next-Generation Transit Survey observatory which hunts for new planets as they traverse their stars.
"The discovery of NGTS-1b was a complete surprise to us - such massive planets were not thought to exist around such small stars. This is the first exoplanet we have found with our new NGTS facility and we are already challenging the received wisdom of how planets form," said Daniel Bayliss, the lead author of the research said in the University's
press release.
"Our challenge is to now find out how common these types of planets are in the galaxy, and with the new NGTS facility we are well-placed to do just that," he added.
NGTS-1b is 600 light years away from us and is a gas giant roughly the same size as Jupiter but orbits a star only half the size of our own sun in terms of radius and mass. It's as hot as Jupiter (530 degrees Celsius, 986 Fahrenheit) and at least as large but possesses approximately 20 percent less dense.
However, it lies at just three percent the distance between Earth and our sun, meaning a year on the planet lasts just 2.6 days. The planet orbits a red M-dwarf star, the most common type of star in the universe, which leads researchers to believe there may be far more gas giants waiting to be found.
"NGTS-1b was difficult to find, despite being a monster of a planet, because its parent star is small and faint. Small stars are actually the most common in the universe, so it is possible that there are many of these giant planets waiting to found," said Professor Peter Wheatley, head of the NGTS team.
"Having worked for almost a decade to develop the NGTS telescope array, it is thrilling to see it picking out new and unexpected types of planets. I'm looking forward to seeing what other kinds of exciting new planets we can turn up,"Wheatley said.
The observatory monitors the night sky and detects red light emanated by stars using ultra-sensitive cameras. In this particular instance, the system detected a break in starlight every 2.6 days. The team then tracked the planet's orbit around the star, allowing them to calculate the size, position and mass of NGTS-1b by measuring the radial velocity or the anomalies in its orbit due to variations in the planet's gravity.
Given that all motion is relative, (e.g., standing on the equator, you are moving approximately 1,000 mph), but you can't feel it or tell it because you and your surroundings are ALL moving at that same speed. (Good example: Ever been on a slow moving train in a switching yard and look out the window? You can't tell if it's you or that train that is moving.)
What this article would have you envision, is that the star is moving (relative to us, the observers) in a straight line while that star slowly moves in its million year orbit of the center of its galaxy, which galaxy is revolving around some greater mass such as a ginormous black hole, or perchance, as best we can tell, 'the center of the universe'.... which is revolving around a larger ... etc. ad infinitum.
But that perception is not correct. The star does not move in a straight line relative to us, or relative to whatever it is revolving around. Rather, since its size is so close to its sun, both that little sun and that large planet are revolving around each other like two relatively same sized people roped together and revolving around the other, they will both end up walking in interlooping circles. The center of that point that they each revolve around will be closer to the larger object, but what we will see is that these bodies will be doing a waltz like dance, which makes me think of the beginning of 2001 A Space Odyssey.
That central point is like the center of gravity between the two bodies. There is a place between two orbiting bodies where a body will stay in between them, called the 'Lagrange Point'** but I believe that's not the same thing but I could be wrong. (They say that Newton never resolved the third body motion in gravity, so please expect less from me.) For a taste, read this: [Link]
R.C.
P.s., SOTT often speaks of the 'unconventional view' of the 'Electric Universe' and, to a lesser degree, One part of the 'conventional view' and the search for some ultimate rule like a rule of gravity, etc., which quantum physics interferes with, etc.
One of the many issues that are problematic betwixt these views of the Universe, is that no one has a complete an explanation of Gravity, i.e., we still don't understand Gravity. (For example, it is presumed that gravity is faster than the speed of light - that it is, some how, instantaneous, etc.) Ask about the speed of gravity and watch confusion at work.
RC
*(I even reviewed the original linked article, but nada there. I didn't go to ultimate article, as what I'm going to write is pretty much the same.)
**NOT: This La Grange
Rumour spreadin' 'round
In that Texas town
About that shack outside La Grange
And you know what I'm talkin' about
Just let me know
If you wanna go
To that home out on the range
They got a lot of nice girls-ah
Have mercy
A-haw-haw-haw-haw, a-heh
A-haw-haw-haw
Well, I hear it's fine
If you got the time
And the ten to get yourself in
A-hmm, hmm
And I hear it's tight
A-most every night
But now I might be mistaken
Hmm, hmm, hmm
(I saw ZZ Top at the Tres Hombres tour at a half full (~750 of 1.5K full) Orlando High Lai Fronton circa 1973? Some hilarious stories as we weren't old enough to drive to get there.)
RC.