eccentric orbit tagged posts

Our familiar, warm, yellow sun is a relative rarity in the Milky Way. By far the most common stars are considerably smaller and cooler, sporting just half the mass of our sun at most. Billions of planets orbit these common dwarf stars in our galaxy. To capture enough warmth to be habitable, these planets would need to huddle very close to their small stars, which leaves them susceptible to extreme tidal forces.

In a new analysis based on the latest telescope data, University of Florida astronomers have discovered that two-thirds of the planets around these ubiquitous small stars could be roasted by these tidal extremes, sterilizing them...

A research team has reconstructed the origin of an unusual gravitational wave signal. The signal GW190521 may result from the merger of two massive black holes that captured each other in their gravitational field and then collided while spinning around each other in a rapid, eccentric motion.

When black holes collide in the universe, the clash shakes up space and time: the amount of energy released during the merger is so great that it causes space-time to oscillate, similar to waves on the surface of water...

For the first time, astronomers have observed a star pulsing in response to its orbiting planet. The star, HAT-P-2, pictured, is one of the most massive exoplanets known today. The planet, named HAT-P-2b, tracks its star in a highly eccentric orbit, flying extremely close to and around the star, then hurtling far out before eventually circling back around. Credit: Image courtesy of NASA (edited by MIT News)

Scientists observe first planet-induced stellar pulsations. For the first time, astronomers from MIT and elsewhere have observed a star pulsing in response to its orbiting planet.The star, which goes by the name HAT-P-2, is about 400 light years from Earth and is circled by a gas giant measuring 8X the mass of Jupiter – one of the most massive exoplanets known today...