Dance of the Planets Gets Intimate

[n2doc]

By Irene Klotz

Two giant planets circling a dying star about 223 light-years away sweep past one another closer than any other planetary pair, demonstrating orbital mechanics that break the bounds of what scientists thought possible.

The planets, which are about the size of Jupiter, likely formed 2.5 billion to 3 billion years ago from of disk of dust and gas circling a massive newborn star, now known as HD200964.

Typically, gravity ends up balancing planet pairs so that the inner world completes two orbits for every one made by its outlying sibling, among other configurations. HD200964's inner Jupiter is making four orbits for every three completed by its partner.

The closer the planets, the trickier the balancing act due to the planets' increasingly powerful gravitational influences on each other.

more

http://news.discovery.com/space/exoplanets-pair-orbits.html

[Greyskye]

1. This post is useless without...

...detailed orbital mechanics plots of the solar system.

Preferably animated.



















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