In some fantastic science news, scientists have discovered a strange planet that comes with three suns. An international team of astronomers recently announced the discovery of a planet that is present in a faraway solar system having three suns which is just the most ridiculous thing.
Why it is that unusual?
Named it as the HD 131399Ab, it is extremely unusual that what you can find in science fiction films like Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars saga.
According to the findings published in the US journal Science, these kinds of binary solar systems are relatively common in the universe, by the University of Arizona. “Imagine this: a planet where you’d either experience constant daylight or enjoy triple sunrises and sunsets each day, depending on the seasons, which happen to last longer than human lifetimes.”
You will be shocked to know that the planet is located more than 320 light years from Earth. It is located in the constellation Centaurus. However, the cosmic body is young at 16 million years old. That makes it one of the youngest planets to have been discovered outside the solar system to date.
The worst is that, it is four times larger than Jupiter, which happens to be the largest planet in the solar system. The planet orbits the brightest among the three stars on a very wide and long path.
What does the team feel about their discovery?
First author Kevin Wagner, who discovered HD 131399Ab, said “For about half of the planet’s orbit, which lasts 550 Earth-years, three stars are visible in the sky — the fainter two always much closer together and changing in apparent separation from the brightest star throughout the year.”
“For much of the planet’s year, the stars appear close together, giving it a familiar night-side and day-side with a unique triple-sunset and sunrise each day,” Mr Wagner added. “As the planet orbits and the stars grow further apart each day, they reach a point where the setting of one coincides with the rising of the other.”
The team used the SPHERE instrument which is located in Chile, on the European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope. It is one of the most advanced instruments which have been dedicated to finding planets
