Rocky planet found out in outer orbit challenges planet f...
Astronomers have uncovered a distant planetary system that flips a long-standing rule of planet formation on its head.
What’s Happening
Alright so Astronomers have uncovered a distant planetary system that flips a long-standing rule of planet formation on its head.
Around the small red dwarf star LHS 1903, scientists expected to find rocky planets close in and gas giants farther out — the same pattern seen in our own Solar System and hundreds of others. And at first, that’s exactly what they saw. (we’re not making this up)
But new observations spilled a surprise: the outermost planet appears to be rocky, not gaseous.
The Details
Science News LHS 1903 is a small red M-dwarf star that is cooler and shines less brightly than our Sun. Scientists used telescopes in space and on Earth to discover four planets orbiting LHS 1903.
With those telescopes, they classified the three closest planets to the star as the innermost being rocky, and the two that follow it gas giants. Credit: ESA Story Source: Materials provided by McMaster University .
Why This Matters
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This could have implications for future research in this area.
The Bottom Line
This story is still developing, and we’ll keep you updated as more info drops.
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