Formation of planetary systems like our own solar system is an uncertain process. According to the nebular theory planetary systems are formed in the disc of leftover particles in the molecular clouds or nebulae, after the formation of proto star. Although the most accepted theory for the formation of solar system is this nebular theory, there is still the lack of a comprehensive understanding of this hypothesis that can explain origin of all kinds of planetary systems. Now a team of researchers led by Stefan Kraus at the University of Exeter’s have observed a case of planetary systems with oblique planetary orbits, i.e. planets orbiting the star in different planes.
Located approximately 1300 light years from earth, in the Orion constellation is the GW Orionis triple star system that has misaligned orbits. Scientists have been constantly observing this system for over 11 years using European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/ submillimeter Array — a radio telescope made up of 66 antennas.
“Our images reveal an extreme case where the disk is not flat at all, but is warped and has a misaligned ring that has broken away from the disk,” Kraus said. Using simulations the researchers confirmed that these warps, split in disks or oblique orbits resulted from the gravitational interactions between the three stars. The disordered orbits of stars in turn caused the discs around each star into distinct rings. Thus this makes it the first direct evidence for the hypothesis that discs around stars can be split by other nearby stars.
Understanding the origin of such systems may help in deepening our understanding of the process of formation of planetary systems. Researchers also predict that many more such planetary systems with planets on oblique, wide-separation orbits will be discovered in future planet imaging campaigns.
Ref: Science magazine, Sciencedaily
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