Scientists have discovered a strange, new exoplanet with not one, not two, but three suns. This exoplanet may tell researchers a bit more about Hot Jupiters that are part of multiple-star systems.
The massive Hot Jupiter planet goes by the name of KELT-4Ab. In all, it takes about three days to make its way around its star, which is known as KELT-A. However, there are other stars in the same system. While these stars are too far away to function as large agents of heating, they do still appear in the planet's sky. Called KELT-B and KELT-C, these stars orbit one another over the course of about 30 years. The pair then orbits KELT-A over the course of about 4,000 years.
Hot Jupiters are planets that are very similar to our own planet Jupiter. They are massive, gaseous planets. What's interesting about them, though, is that they can be far closer to their star than our own planet Jupiter.
Interestingly, the researchers didn't know that the system consisted of three stars. In fact, they though that the closely paired stars were actually just one star. In this latest study, the researchers used robotic telescopes in Arizona and South Africa to find out that, in fact, the system consists of a total of three stars.
But what makes this system so much more interesting than other triple-star systems? Other systems that have been found have been much further away. This makes them a lot harder to study with telescopes. This latest system, though, is relatively close in comparison to the other systems. This makes it a perfect location in order to better understand triple-star systems and how they affect the orbits of the planets in the system.
More specifically, the system may allow scientists to better understand how the planet, KELT-4Ab, manages to orbit so closely to its star. This is especially important because the planet is so massive, which means that like our own planet Jupiter, scientists expect it to be much further away from its star. This, in turn, may tell researchers a bit more about Hot Jupiter exoplanets.
The findings are published in the March 2016 journal The Astronomical Journal.
