“Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” to view the planetary zoo
Astronomy takes you to the far stretches of the universe in search of answers to the questions we all ask ourselves
Astronomy News – Space scientists looking at the rapidly expanding menagerie of planets being added to the planetary zoo keep coming back from their journey wide-eyed and smiling like a kid that just got the key to the candy store. The latest editions to the planetary zoo are orbiting celestial bodies in orbits totally out-of-whack with the orbits of planets previously viewed in the universe. In fact, astronomers are bringing planets to be housed in the planetary zoo, of late, that are so different space scientists are having to rethink present theories on exoplanets circling distant suns in the Milky Way.
Astronomers studying three known Jupiter-size exoplanets circling dwarf star Upsilon Andromeda A, which lies about 44 light-years from Earth, have determined these exo-planets are circling in orbits unlike any seen before by Earth astronomers. Orbiting at steep angles to one another, these three planets could have exotic environments and global systems, unlike anything humans can imagine. The possibilities of life existing in star systems with such potential for chaos is going to entice the imaginations of science fiction writers across the planet to create realities and scenarios sure to entertain and create fear in the human heart.
Astronomers studying planets are discovering things we never even guessed at
The theories of space scientists concerning the formation of planetary systems will have to be altered with the arrival of these new and unexpected members of the planetary zoo. The possible scenarios for the formation of planetary systems will have to be changed to include the possibility for the formation of exoplanets of this type. Possibilities that will now include the inward migration of planets orbiting distant stars, the ejection of planets from a system due to planet scattering, or the disruption of the planetary system due to gravitational interaction with Upsilon Andromedae A’s companion star, Upsilon Andromedae B.
One thing is for sure, the human “Journey to the Beginning of Space and Time” has taken a turn down a path that definitely isn’t heading to Kansas, Dorothy!