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HD 20782 has the most eccentric orbit known, measured at an eccentricity of .96. This means that the planet moves in a nearly flattened ellipse, traveling a long path far from its star and then making a fast and furious slingshot around the star at its closest approach.
The reflected light could tell researchers more about how the atmosphere of a planet like HD 20782 responds when it spends most of its time far away from its star, "but then has a very close approach where it's flash-heated by the star," Kane said.
There are few possible "suspects" in the case of HD 20782, Kane noted. It could be that there was originally more than one planet in the system, and one planet developed an unstable orbit that brought the two planets too close together. This collision or near-collision might have ejected one planet from the system entirely and pushed HD 20782 on its eccentric path. The planet is in a binary star system, so it might also be the case that the second star in the binary made a close approach that threw HD 20782 off a more circular orbit.
news.sfsu.edu...
analysis of the light will allow them to understand the composition of the planet's atmosphere and how the extremes of its orbit effect it.
produced by star light bouncing of its atmosphere on its closest approach to its parent star
Yes. Their speed relative to their primary changes dramatically between perhelion and aphelion. Think of it like this, throw a ball straight up. Is it moving faster at the top of its trajectory, or at the bottom. Exactly the same situation.
Do planetary bodies/comets on long elliptical orbits slow down once they reach the furthest point of their orbit?
originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: BelowLowAnnouncement
Yes. Their speed relative to their primary changes dramatically between perhelion and aphelion. Think of it like this, throw a ball straight up. Is it moving faster at the top of its trajectory, or at the bottom. Exactly the same situation.
Do planetary bodies/comets on long elliptical orbits slow down once they reach the furthest point of their orbit?