Two planets have already been identified in a system called Kepler-88, and a third has now been found. It weighs three times more than Jupiter.

A planet has been discovered three times the mass of Jupiter in a distant solar system. Until now, the star system called Kepler-88 is known to orbit two planets, Kepler-88b and Kepler-88c, in close proximity. The newly discovered planet is Kepler-88 d, which orbits its star every four years, its orbit is not circular but elliptical.

The planet was discovered by researchers from the University of Hawaii Astronomy Institute (UH IfA) on the basis of data collected over six years by the HIRES spectrometer at the WM Keck Observatory Keck I telescope at the Maunekea volcano, writes the news portal Scientific EurekAlert.org.

The two planets already known as Kepler-88 have strange and surprising dynamics, this is called medium motion resonance. Planet b, smaller than Neptune, orbits the star in 11 days, which is exactly half the Jupiter-sized planet C’s 22-day orbital period. The clock nature of his trajectory is energy efficient, it works in the same way that a father pushes his son on a swing. Planet b is “pushed” every second orbit around the star by planet c, which is twenty times more massive than it, so its power changes the planet’s orbital time closer to the star.

Astronomers monitored these changes, called transit time variations, with NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope. The instrument detected the exact time that the Kepler-88 b passed between the star and the telescope; this is called transit. Although variations in transit time have already been observed in dozens of planetary systems, the Kepler-88 b has unusually large variations in transit time. A transit can take place up to half a day before or after.

The newly discovered planet added another dimension to the knowledge gathered about the system.

“Planet Kepler-88 d, which has three times the mass of Jupiter, had an even greater influence on the history of the Kepler-88 system than its previous king, planet c, which has a single mass of Jupiter,” said Lauren Weiss, UA IfA researcher in the Astronomical Journal. He is the lead author of a study on the discovery published in the scientific journal. It is conceivable that these large planets had an influence similar to that of Jupiter in the formation of the Solar System. These planets may have influenced the formation of rocky planets and directed water-bearing comets toward them. Weiss and colleagues are searching for similar planets in other systems with small planets.

In the Solar System, even the slightest movement of the mighty Jupiter could be felt by all other planets, according to theories. Experts say Jupiter is responsible for the small size of Mars, the existence of the asteroid belt, and the flood of comets that carry water to young Earth.

If you want to know similar things at other times, you will like the HVG Tech Facebook page, which also presents scientific results.



The coronavirus is the greatest crisis of our time, in which it is literally vital to discover it from an authentic source. At HVG, we are committed to this mission even in this situation: to provide accurate, objective and independent information to our readers.

Support our work to bring you up-to-date information even in difficult circumstances.

The coronavirus is the greatest crisis of our time, in which it is literally vital to discover it from an authentic source. At HVG, we are committed to this mission even in this situation: to provide accurate, objective and independent information to our readers.

Support our work to bring you up-to-date information even in difficult circumstances.


Astronomers have seen something that only happens once every 200,000 years

hvg.hu
technology

Fomalhaut b seemed to be a special exoplanet, then lost track of it.