Planet with four suns discovered

BBC NEWS

Astronomers have found a planet whose skies are illuminated by four different suns - the first known of its type. The distant world orbits one pair of stars and has a second stellar pair revolving around it. It remains a mystery how the Neptune-like world avoids being pulled apart by the gravitational forces generated its four stars.

The find was made by volunteers using the Planethunters.org website along with a team from UK and US institutes. A scientific paper outlining the quadruple star system has been posted on the Arxiv pre-print server.

4 suns exerting gravity and still it has a stable orbit..
It just go's to show that we are at the beginning of our space exploration endeavors.

What we know now is a mere grain of sand on the beech that is 'the universe'
it can only get better and i for one can't wait..

Does it have a circular orbit around one sun?

Does it weave through the pull of all of them?

Is there always one sun shinning?

Too many questions! This is awesome though.

Can't wait to find out more about it!

reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel


5000 Light yrs... ouch.

There is always more wonderful plnet combination like this but sadly, anything over 0.0001 light yr is almost impossible(even that is a bit tough, almost 39 yrs with 17000mph speed)...

reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel


Sounds like a realm where beings of light may exist, beings of light meaning they exist in light most of the time due to lack of darkness exposure potentials. The days there no matter how long 1 can imagine present different colors of sky depending on which star is providing the most light.. Snf nice find OP

Originally posted by kryton
Does it have a circular orbit around one sun?

It has a stable orbit around 1 sun yes, as the article states they have seen binary systems and planets are normally close to one sun.. this may be the only way to survive planet formation in such unusual solar systems

Does it weave through the pull of all of them?

no it has a stable orbit around 1 sun , however the other stars exert influence on it and may be just as involved in its creation.

Is there always one sun shinning?

unsure .. damn you would think so wouldn't you? pitch black springs to mind

reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel


Tis is more than amazing since two suns will steal matter from each other as they orbit each other. What would four do and more importantly how would the plantes be transformed from these enourmous amounts of gravity????

Originally posted by Ophiuchus 13
reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel

 

Sounds like a realm where beings of light may exist, beings of light meaning they exist in light most of the time due to lack of darkness exposure potentials. The days there no matter how long 1 can imagine present different colors of sky depending on which star is providing the most light.. Snf nice find OP

i like this premise, four times more energy! probably got pandora size foliage :p

reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel


This is amazing!

I would guess that the planet would be in an earth or mars equivelant orbit around the systems primaries, the smaller outlying pair would have to be at least saturn or uranus distance, to have a stable orbit, that isn't ripping it apart.

As the outlying stars are obviously kess massive than the systems primaries, therwise the center of gravity would be in the middle of the. Stars, not centered closer to the planets orbital path.

There isn't enough information yet to be able to determine anything more specific though. So for the time being only conjecture and theories will be available.

The universe is a very amazing place, full of more wanders, than would could evver hope to explore in many lifetimes, let alone the one we all get.

SnF OP, great find!

Originally posted by Ophiuchus 13
reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel

 

Sounds like a realm where beings of light may exist, beings of light meaning they exist in light most of the time due to lack of darkness exposure potentials. The days there no matter how long 1 can imagine present different colors of sky depending on which star is providing the most light.. Snf nice find OP

That just might be where beings of light do come from who knows

Originally posted by maryhinge

That just might be where beings of light do come from who knows

1 group now think of the Pleiades star system that is 390–460 ly away and the energies their being able to reach this sector.

Seems logical some beings can grow in light areas like humans, to extreme like like potential plasma creatures (Dracons) and others may grow in areas that lack any direct light at all inside planets or on top of planets far from star light. This however does not determine what is a light spirit/internal energy or soul for the behaviors of the beings who dwell in light and dark zones is what signifies a dark or light conscious -spirit -soul -internal energy not home habitat location. So we can get along once this is understood 1 hopes.

it does seem logical that civilizations spread through the universe in all conditions from the brightest platform to the darkest corner of the universe...

life always finds a way .. we will discover this as we venture out further in to our own solar system.

As the above poster says we should not confuse so called beings of light with beings WITH light :p

Originally posted by Quantum_Squirrel
we should not confuse so called beings of light with beings WITH light :p

[COLOR=CYAN] as well as not associate beings of dark with beings with darkness I hope this resonates far and deep within many who read this Quantum_Squirrel good call and 1 would think helps.
NAMASTE
LOVE LIGHT ETERNIA*******
[/COLOR]

This reminds me of the star system in the more recent Battlestar Galactica where the 12 colonies were.

io9.com...

Originally posted by Quantum_Squirrel

Originally posted by kryton
Is there always one sun shinning?

unsure .. damn you would think so wouldn't you? pitch black springs to mind

I was thinking of the Asimov story "Nightfall" (a short story, and later a novel) about a planet with six suns that (normally) never experiences night -- i.e., there is always at least one sun in the sky.

However, one scientist finds that civilization as they know it collapses every 2000+ years, and links that collapse to the idea that every 2000+ years the planet experiences a brief "night" in which everyone goes crazy because they can't seem to grasp the concept of darkness.

en.wikipedia.org...


However, I read the novel and was less than "wowed" by it. I agree with this reviewer (below) who says that while I think the basic premise of the story is certainly interesting from a pure sci-fi standpoint, I can't help but see plot holes that come with the idea that these beings have never experienced darkness in their lives...

...for example, don't the people on this planet have windowless rooms or closets? Can't they close their eyes? Hasn't anyone on that planet ever tried hiding in a big cardboard box?

pastorjoehedden.wordpress.com...

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

...for example, don't the people on this planet have windowless rooms or closets? Can't they close their eyes? Hasn't anyone on that planet ever tried hiding in a big cardboard box?

your assuming 'people' have developed/evolved with eyes in the first place, in such a light system would they be a help or a hindrance?

Originally posted by maryhinge

Originally posted by Ophiuchus 13
reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel

 

Sounds like a realm where beings of light may exist, beings of light meaning they exist in light most of the time due to lack of darkness exposure potentials. The days there no matter how long 1 can imagine present different colors of sky depending on which star is providing the most light.. Snf nice find OP

That just might be where beings of light do come from who knows

What are 'beings of light' ..?

Even though it was a Science Fiction film, the movie "Pitch Black" also has a planet in it that has four suns.

And then when the solar eclipse came...things came out and ate people...

As cool as the new planet sounds, I would be very weary of what that planet has in store!!

reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel

What we know now is a mere grain of sand on the beech that is 'the universe'
it can only get better and i for one can't wait..

And yet we have the kahonas to suggest we know anything about how the universe came to be. Thanks for the thread, wonderful discovery.

Well, I think I know the first solar system i'll be visiting when I have a spaceship that I can explore the galaxy in great find, i'm seeing more and more posts/articles on space, all these new things we seem to be discovering, recently we got the deepest picture of the universe ever, then there is Felix Baumgartner's record breaking jump, and now this. I love it. Maybe it's the planets way of telling us we will soon colonize Mars, and then move on from there?

Originally posted by dayve

Originally posted by maryhinge

Originally posted by Ophiuchus 13
reply to post by Quantum_Squirrel

 

Sounds like a realm where beings of light may exist, beings of light meaning they exist in light most of the time due to lack of darkness exposure potentials. The days there no matter how long 1 can imagine present different colors of sky depending on which star is providing the most light.. Snf nice find OP

That just might be where beings of light do come from who knows

What are 'beings of light' ..?

to be truthful dayve i have no idea
thats why i put a and said you never know
but i do think it refers to a type of being be it alien / humanoid