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Discovery of six-planet solar system wows astronomers

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Astronomers using the European Space Agency’s Cheops telescope in Earth orbit have discovered six planets orbiting a bright nearby star in perfect rhythmic harmony. They say it’s a rare, frozen-in-time cosmic wonder that can help explain how solar systems across the galaxy came to be.The Associated Press

If three’s a crowd, then six makes a chorus.

That’s the case at least for a rare six-planet solar system whose discovery has wowed astronomers, even in an era when detecting planets around distant stars has become a common occurrence.

All six of the planets are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. That likely means that they are small gaseous worlds surrounded by extended atmospheres of hydrogen and helium – not ideal for life as we know it and too hot because of their close proximity to the star they orbit.

The planetary sextuplet is a spectacular scientific find, astronomers say, because all six members of the system circle their star in a harmonious pattern with orbital periods that occur in simple, whole-number ratios, similar to those that dictate which notes sound good together in a standard musical scale.

For example, the innermost planet orbits three times for every two orbits completed by its nearest neighbour. That planet, in turn, orbits three times for every two orbits of the next planet out and so on in ratios of 3:2 or 4:3. By the time the outermost planet has completed one orbit, the innermost has gone around the star precisely six times.

This mathematical arrangement – an example of what is called orbital resonance – is reinforced by the gravitational forces between the planets and predicted by theories of planet formation. But astronomers have found that most solar systems are unable to maintain such a delicate pattern. Eventually, other forces and perturbations will come along to knock them out of sync.

In this case, the six planets seem to have held to their current pattern for billions of years, offering researchers the chance to work backward and uncover how such a system might come to be.

“This system is poised to become a test bed for a controlled experiment to study how planets form, how planets evolve,” said Rafael Luque, an astronomer at the University of Chicago and lead author of a study describing the find. “We are going to learn a lot.”


Six new worlds discovered

Six planets, all larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, have been found in close orbits around a star located about 100 light years away. The orbital periods of the planets occur in simple ratios because of the gravitational forces between them.

Star and planets are not to scale

Orbital ratios of the six planets

completes six

orbits while planet

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE:

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY

Six new worlds discovered

Six planets, all larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, have been found in close orbits around a star located about 100 light years away. The orbital periods of the planets occur in simple ratios because of the gravitational forces between them.

Star and planets are not to scale

Orbital ratios of the six planets

completes six

orbits while planet

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE:

EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY

Six new worlds discovered

Six planets, all larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, have been found in close orbits around a star located about 100 light years away. The orbital periods of the planets occur in simple ratios because of the gravitational forces between them.

Star and planets

are not to scale

Orbital ratios of the six planets

completes six

orbits while planet

MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY

The study was published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Dr. Luque said in a news briefing that the solar system is exceptional because, apart from our own sun, the star is the brightest known with so many planets around it. Designated HD11006, the star is located about 100 light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices. If it were the same distance as our sun, it would appear only 20 per cent dimmer.

Since planets do not shine by their own light but can only reflect or block the light of the stars they orbit, a bright star offers a better opportunity to study a planetary system.

None of the planets have been seen directly. Their discovery was only possible because of a fluke of geometry. Since their orbital plane is roughly in line with astronomers’ line of sight from Earth, the planets appear to repeatedly cross in front of their star, creating a complex series of mini-eclipses or transits.

The first planet, designated HD11006b, was discovered with NASA’s TESS satellite in 2020 by using the transit method. But the data hinted at more planets. When TESS was able to view the system again in 2022, some additional planets were detected. But it wasn’t until Dr. Luque and his colleagues were able to gain time on CHEOPS – a European Space Agency satellite intended for long-duration studies of exoplanet targets (planets beyond our solar system) – that all six with their interrelated orbital periods were confirmed.

Follow-up observations that reveal how the star wobbles in response to the gravitational pull of the planets then yielded their individual masses.

The find is similar to another solar system called Trappist-1, which contains seven Earth-sized rocky planets locked in various orbital resonances. What makes the new system different is that the planets are bigger. All six fall into a category called “sub-Neptunes,” which are unknown in our solar system but common in others.

Because planets of that size are not well understood, the system represents a unique opportunity to study multiple examples that emerged in similar conditions.

“How do such planets even form? We have hypotheses, but to sharpen them we need to study the atmospheres of these planets,” said Nicolas Cowan, an astronomer who specializes in exoplanets at McGill University and who was not involved in the discovery. “Having six of them transiting the same star is a gold mine.”

Transiting planets are ideal for such studies because as they pass in front of their star, their atmospheres filter the light, revealing details about the planets’ compositions.

Researchers in Canada have already used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to conduct an atmospheric study of one planet circling in Trappist-1. The new find gives astronomers using JWST a chance to compare and contrast the two solar systems.

“Expect astronomers to rapidly jump on this system,” said René Doyon, director of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets in Montreal and a principal investigator on the Webb telescope.

He said some of the planets could be “water worlds,” meaning a significant fraction of their bulk mass consists of water.

“One could certainly qualify the Trappist-1 system as nature’s gift for studying rocky planets,” Dr. Doyon said. “Well, here’s the best gift ever for studying mini-Neptunes.”

Dr. Cowan added that the newly discovered system was tailor-made for study by a new exoplanet-dedicated mission that he is participating in. Called Ariel, the European Space Agency is set to launch it in 2029.

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The body of a Ugandan Olympic athlete who was set on fire by her partner is received by family

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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.

Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.

She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.

Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.

“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.

It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.

Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.

Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.

Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.

“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.

He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.

Kenya’s high rates of violence against women have prompted marches by ordinary citizens in towns and cities this year.

Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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The ancient jar smashed by a 4-year-old is back on display at an Israeli museum after repair

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TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.

Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.

Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.

The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.

The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.

It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.

Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.

Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.

Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.

Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.

Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.

The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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B.C. sets up a panel on bear deaths, will review conservation officer training

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VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.

Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”

Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.

“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.

B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.

Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.

Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.

Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.

“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”

Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”

“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.

Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.

“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.

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