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Field Guide To New Planets - astronomers discover new planets
Discover, March, 2000 by Kathy A. Svitil
That's exactly what astronomers are proposing. Instead of staid and steady motion from the start, they see turmoil. During the early years of our solar system, they say, giant planets were born, bounced about, swung past one another, and were flung apart before settling into their present orbits. Computer modeling by Martin Duncan of Queen's University in Ontario, Canada, suggests that the massive icy planets Uranus and Neptune formed in close proximity to gassy Jupiter and Saturn, then barged past the behemoths into the far reaches of the solar system. There isn't enough matter that far from the sun for such planets to have grown so huge within the life span of the solar system.
Modeling by astrophysicist Philip Armitage of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics near Munich suggests that the emergence of a Jupiter-sized planet during the early years of a solar system can trigger chaos, birthing punier planets, then ejecting them in all directions. "The discovery of these extra-solar planetary systems has caused considerable change in our understanding of how planets form," says Armitage. "it suggests that the whole idea of planets moving around and migrating is definitely needed to explain these extra-solar systems. And that has motivated people to think about what it is in our own solar system that might benefit from similar explanations." --Josie Glausiusz
Rho Coronae Borealis LOCATION: constellation Corona Borealis, 54 light-years away MASS: 350 Earths YEAR: 39.65 days MILES FROM SUN: 21 million TEMPERATURE: 620 [degrees] F. REPORTED: April 24, 1997 * This planet's sun is an elderly 10-billion-year-old analogue to our own. Gliese 86 LOCATION: constellation Eridanus, 36 light-years from Earth MASS: 1,600 Earths YEAR: 15.83 days MILES FROM SUN: 10 million TEMPERATURE: 620 [degrees] F. REPORTED: Nov. 24, 1998 A binary star system. The planet orbits Gliese 86 A, a cool dwarf lighter and dimmer than our sun. HD192263 LOCATION: constellation Aquila, 65 light-years from Earth MASS: 250 Earths YEAR: 24.36 days MILES FROM SUN: 14 million TEMPERATURE: 422 [degrees] F. REPORTED: Sept. 28, 1999 * A cool sun keeps temperatures lower than planets a similar distance from their star. HD130322 LOCATION: constellation Virgo, 97 light-years from Earth MASS: 343 Earths YEAR: 10.72 days MILES FROM SUN: 8.2 million TEMPERATURE: 890 [degrees] F. REPORTED: Sept. 6, 1999 * This gas giant orbits four times closer to its sun than Mercury, but it's not quite a roaster: Its parent star is cool, half as luminous as our sun. 55 Cancri LOCATION: constellation Cancer, 44 light-years from Earth MASS: 600 Earths YEAR: 14.7 days MILES FROM SUN: 10 million TEMPERATURE: 674 [degrees] F. REPORTED: April 12, 1996 * Star 55 Cancri has a massive, flattened disk of dust extending several billion miles. A second, larger planet, in a 15- to 20-year orbit, is considered likely. 70 Virginis LOCATION: constellation Virgo, 59 light-years from Earth MASS: 2,100 Earths YEAR: 116.7 days MILES FROM SUN: 40 million TEMPERATURE: 210 [degrees] F. REPORTED: Jan. 17,1996 * A highly eccentric orbit leads to large temperature fluctuations. HD114762 LOCATION: constellation Coma Berenices, 91 light-years from Earth MASS: 3,500 Earths YEAR: 84.02 days MILES FROM SUN: 35 million TEMPERATURE: 404 [degrees] F. REPORTED: April 22, 1996 * A giant planet in a wicked orbit makes other planets unlikely-they'd probably be thrown out of the system or crash into this behemoth. HD195019 LOCATION: constellation Delphinus, 122 light-years from Earth MASS: 1,100 Earths YEAR: 18.2 days MILES FROM SUN: 12.7 million TEMPERATURE: 750 [degrees] F. REPORTED: Oct. 10, 1998 * This planet's star is a near-twin to our sun in mass HD168443 LOCATION: constellation Serpens, 108 light-years from Earth MASS: 1,600 Earths YEAR: 57.9 days MILES FROM SUN: 25.7 million TEMPERATURE: 710 [degrees] F. REPORTED: December 2, 1998 * This planet's wild path-swinging from 14 to 42 million miles away from its star-would cause extreme seasonal temperature variations.
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