System Has Multiple Planets Off-Kilter
不平坦的星系
Two of the three known planets around the star Kepler 56 orbit their host out of line with the star's equator. Clara Moskowitz reports.
恒星开普勒56周围,有三颗已知的行星正围绕它转动着,但其中的两颗都没有运行在恒星的赤道平面上。
撰文/播音 克拉拉•莫斯科维兹(Clara Moskowitz)
Our solar system stretches out over billions of miles. But it’s relatively flat, with all the planets more or less in line with the sun’s equator. Now we know about another solar system that lives by a different set of rules. And it may help straighten out some mysteries about how planetary systems form.
我们的太阳系虽绵延数十亿英里,但却相对比较平坦,因为太阳系所有行星几乎都运行在太阳的赤道平面上。然而现在,我们发现了另一个完全遵循着不同规律的恒星系统,这也许能帮我们解开行星系统起源的谜团。
Astronomers using NASA’s Kepler space telescope analyzed a giant star called Kepler 56, about 3,000 light-years from Earth. And they found that two of its three known planets orbit at a severe tilt.
天文学家利用NASA的开普勒太空望远镜观察并分析了一颗距离地球大约3000光年的巨星——开普勒56,他们发现,围绕它旋转的三颗行星中,有两颗的轨道与其赤道平面间呈很大的夹角。
Such skewed orbits are common for so-called hot Jupiters—gas giants that orbit close to their hosts. But the Kepler 56 system is the first one known where the orbits of multiple planets are out of alignment with their star’s equator.
这样的倾斜轨道,对于所谓的“热木星”十分常见。热木星是一类运行轨道十分靠近主恒星的气体巨星,但开普勒56系统,却是目前已知的首个多颗行星都未运行在其恒星赤道平面上的星系。
Astronomers think a large, hidden third planet recently found lurking in the Kepler 56 system might have pushed the other two planets off course. Similar interference could be behind many misaligned hot Jupiters throughout the galaxy. Clearly, there’s more than one way to build a solar system.
天文学家认为,两颗行星之所以偏离赤道平面的航线,很可能是由于第三颗巨行星的“推力”作用。而宇宙中围绕同一恒星运转、但运行轨道并不在同一平面的其他热木行星,很可能也经历了相似的过程。很明显,星系并不只有一种诞生的方式。
(题图来源:NASA)