Astronomers have recently discovered a newfound family of six exoplanets in the constellation Cetus, and what makes these planets so unique is the fact that all six are in-sync in terms of size and orbital period.
The exoplanetary system, named EPIC214346071, is located approximately 559 light-years away from Earth in the star system HD 81688. When analyzed, researchers were surprised to find that the planets all had a similar size to one another and most remarkably, all had nearly the same orbital period.
The six exoplanets are M-type dwarf stars and five of those planets have circular orbits, while the other planet is more elliptical. What was originally thought to be an unlikely and unique finding has become a reality- five of the planets are between four and six times that of Earth’s diameter and the sixth is 1.5 times larger. All have short orbital periods ranging from just 11.87 to 25.97 days.
What’s intriguing about these exoplanets is that the orbital period of the outer planet (EPIC214346071b) is half the orbital period of the innermost planet (EPIC214346071a). This is an incredibly rare finding and speaks to their rather remarkable resonance and synchronized orbit.
Astronomers have surmised that this phenomenon is caused by the gravitational exchange between the planets which helps to drive and maintain the orbital periods in a mutually agreed upon state. The leading belief is that the outer planets in the family don’t transfer matter to the main star as much as they should and this is what allows for the planets to remain in-sync with one another.
The discovery of a rhythmic family of six exoplanets is a fascinating breakthrough and will no doubt help us to better understand the complexities and nuances of our universe. It is an exciting find and will surely generate some interesting research projects for astronomers in the future.