Two planets sharing same orbit around their star? Astronomers find strongest evidence yet #planets #sharing #orbit #star #Astronomers #find #strongest #evidence

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers reported Wednesday the discovery of what could be two planets sharing the same orbit around their star.

They said it’s the strongest evidence yet of this bizarre cosmic pairing, long suspected but never proven.

Using a telescope in Chile, the Spanish-led team spotted a cloud of debris in the same orbit as an already confirmed planet circling this star, 370 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. They suspect it’s either a planet in formation or remnants of a planet that once was.

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen in the sky in the early morning hours of Monday, April 24, 2023, near Washtucna, Wash. An intense solar storm has the aurora borealis gracing the skies farther south than usual. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

The northern lights could be visible for some people this week, but most of the U.S. will miss out. The shimmering green curtain of the aurora is more likely to be spotted in Canada and Alaska.

This June 2023 image provided by the Space Telescope Science Institute shows the planet Saturn and three of its moons, from left, Enceladus, Tethys and Dione, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. In infrared, the planet appears dark because sunlight is absorbed by methane in the atmosphere. (NASA, ESA, CSA, JWST Saturn Team via AP)

Saturn has a fresh new look thanks to NASA’s Webb Space Telescope. The gas giant is dark in the latest photo by Webb, but its rings are aglow.

FILE - People look up to the sky at an observatory near the village of Avren east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2009. There's another chance to see five planets lined up in the sky, weather permitting. Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury will appear together before sunrise on Saturday., June 17, 2023. Jupiter and Saturn will be bright in the sky and easiest to see. Mercury will be the lowest to the horizon and harder to spot. And you'll need to break out binoculars or a telescope to find Neptune and Uranus. (AP Photo/Petar Petrov)

There’s another chance to see five planets lined up in the sky. Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury will appear together before sunrise on Saturday, weather permitting.

This image provided by the European Space Agency and taken with the ESA's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) aboard the Mars Express spacecraft shows Mars as the spacecraft approaches the planet from a distance of 5.5 million kilometers. Launched in 2003, the spacecraft marked it's 20th anniversary, Friday, June 2, 2023. (European Space Agency via AP)

A European spacecraft around Mars has sent its first livestream from the red planet to Earth to mark the 20th anniversary of its launch.

Asteroids are known to accompany planets around their star — for example, Jupiter and its so-called Trojan asteroids. But planets in the same orbit “have so far been like unicorns,” noted study co-author Jorge Lillo-Box of Madrid’s Center for Astrobiology.

“They are allowed to exist by theory, but no one has ever detected them,” he said in a statement.

The scientists said they will need to wait until 2026 in order to properly track the two objects around the star known as PDS 70.

The confirmed planet with the suspected tagalong takes 119 years to complete a lap. A gas giant, it’s three times the size of Jupiter. Another gas giant is known to circle this star, albeit from a much greater distance.

Lead author Olga Balsalobre-Ruza of the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid, said the findings, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, are “the first evidence” that such double worlds might exist.

“We can imagine that a planet can share its orbit with thousands of asteroids as in the case of Jupiter, but it is mind-blowing to me that planets could share the same orbit,” she said in a statement.

___

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

#planets #sharing #orbit #star #Astronomers #find #strongest #evidence