A distant planetary system has recently been discovered to harbor two planets that erupt in a reversing star.
The planets are about 897 light-years away from Earth. The system is called “K2-290” and is made up of three stars and two planets orbiting its main star – “K2-290 A”.
Normally, the star of any planetary system spins in the same directions as the orbit of the planets in the system. However, K2-290 does not appear to be following this path. Scientists believe that a star’s equator is aligned with the orbital orbit of its planets, as both have grown from the same spinning cloud.
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The discovery was made by Simon Albrecht at Aarhus University in Denmark. Upon further investigation, the researchers found that the orbits of the two planets in the system do not correspond to the star. Basically, the rotating axis of the star is tilted about 124 degrees. This means the star is spinning in the other side of its planets.
For a view, in our solar system, the rotating axis of the sun experiences a tilt of 6 degrees relative to its planets, projecting the planets and orbit of the sun in the same direction.
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This botched alignment is not uncommon, as it has been observed in other planetary systems as well. Scientists believe this could be the result of a collision between a star and its planets at creation stages.
“Whatever nature can accomplish, it is likely to be realized somewhere,” NewScientist told Albrecht.
Albrecht states that the error is a direct result of the presence of another star that may have created a gravitational pressure to move the disk.