Discovery of Exoplanets by UNIGE Astronomers
An international team, led by astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has discovered that the exoplanets of a star in the constellation Pisces orbit in planes perpendicular to each other, with the innermost planet the only one still orbiting in the equatorial plane. According to the team of researchers, this happens because of the influence of a distant companion of the star that is still unknown. Theories of the origin of planetary systems predict that planets form in the equatorial plane of their star and continue to evolve there, unless disturbed by special events. This is not the case in the solar system, where our planets lie close to the solar equatorial plane. In this case, the planets are said to be aligned with their star.
RECOMMENDED NEWS