The study of Space never fails to lead to sensational discoveries, some capable of surpassing all logic; 190 light years from Earth, there is in fact a binary system composed of two red dwarfs called TOI-2267 which is incredible. It is in fact composed of two stars that orbit very close, and host three planets: to be precise, two are connected to one star, and one to the other. Something no one thought possible.
The TOI-2267 system is located in the Cepheus constellationat a certain distance from us. An international team of scientists discovered it and the result of the work was published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The existence of this very particular system has called into question many beliefs. “Our analysis shows a unique planetary arrangement: two planets transit one star, and the third transits its companion star”he explained Sebastián Zúñiga-Fernándezresearcher and member of the ExoTIC group at the University of Liège (ULiège). “This makes TOI-2267 the first known binary system to host transiting planets around both of its stars.”
TOI-2267’s “sister” stars orbit each other in a tight configuration. The gravitational environment that is created is unstable, it should not allow the formation of planetsinstead three have been identified. Furthermore, celestial bodies have a rocky structure and dimensions very similar to Earth. “Our discovery breaks several records, as it is the most compact and coldest pair of stars with planets known, and it is also the first in which planets have been recorded transiting around both components”he stated Francisco J. Pozuelosresearcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía (IAA-CSIC) and co-responsible for the study.
Astronomers from ULiège and IAA-CSIC identified the planets thanks to detection software SHERLOCK. More data was then provided by TESS space telescope of NASA. The research then continued with the use of the SPECULOOS and TRAPPIST telescopes.
“This system is a real one natural laboratory For
understand how rocky planets can emerge and survive under extreme dynamic conditions, where we previously thought their stability would be compromised“, commented Zúñiga-Fernández, enthusiastically.