In recent years, astronomers have been searching for exoplanets in the hope of finding traces of extraterrestrial life. As the number of discovered exoplanets has skyrocketed to more than 5,000, scientists have discovered that there are actually planets around many stars, suggesting that the presence of planets around stars is a common phenomenon, and the number of planets in the universe should be very large, far more than the number of stars. Then it is very likely that there are planetary systems similar to the solar system, and life on those planets is also very likely.
A team of researchers led by Raphael Luke, an astronomer at the University of Chicago in the United States, has discovered a strange planetary system in NASA and ESA's planetary databases. The team's findings have been published in the journal Nature, which has caused shock among peers.
This planetary system is located about 100 light-years away from Earth in the constellation Comae. One of its stars, HD110067, is also as bright as the Sun. Six planets have been discovered in the planetary system, which are gas giants slightly smaller than Neptune and about the same size. Since it is a gas giant, according to the knowledge of human beings, the probability of life on it is very low.
The reason why this planetary system is peculiar is that these 6 planets orbit the star in a harmonious way, and all the planetary orbits maintain a direct resonance relationship with each other, forming a resonance chain that constitutes a fully resonant planetary system.
This situation is too strange and rare in a known planetary system, because observational data show that only about 1% of the planets in the planetary system maintain orbital resonance with each other, and the number of planets in the planetary system that maintains a resonance relationship is as high as 6, which is very rare indeed.
When it comes to orbital resonance, it is estimated that many people do not know what this concept is, so here is a brief introduction. The so-called orbital resonance refers to the existence of an integer ratio relationship between the orbital periods of two or more celestial bodies, which causes their orbits to change periodically. Of course, there are also orbital resonances with non-integer ratio relations between the orbital periods of some celestial bodies.
Orbital resonance is a phenomenon that is common in the solar system, with orbital resonances between some of Jupiter's moons and some of Saturn's moons, such as a 1:2 resonance between the orbital periods of Jupiter's moons Europa and Europa.
In this planetary system, the distance between these six planets and the star HD110067 is numbered b, c, d, e, f, and g, respectively, and their orbital periods are 9114 days, 13673 days, 20519 days, 30793 days, 41058 days and 54743 days. It is not difficult to see that from b to g, the orbital resonance ratios between them are 3. This chain of resonance is really as beautiful as the rhythm. Every time the innermost first planet completes 6 revolutions, the outermost sixth planet completes exactly 1 revolution.
Scientists said that they don't know why the six planets in the planetary system have such a peculiar orbital resonance phenomenon, but one thing is certain, that is, it is really very rare and incredible, because the long-term existence of orbital resonance requires continuous self-correction within the system, especially when there are so many planets in a planetary system, this coordination is even more difficult, and the slightest carelessness will lead to the resonance collapse and disintegration.
So much so that some people think that this should not be a product of nature, but the result of the intervention of alien civilizations, the purpose is to show the power of its technology, so that human civilization, a low-level civilization, can discover, and then realize that there are high-level alien civilizations in the universe.
This planetary system not only has a star like the Sun and six planets of about the same size, but also has such a perfect resonance ratio. The planets around stars tend to form in resonance, but this resonance is easily disturbed, and their orbital structure suggests that the planetary system has remained largely unchanged since its formation and has not experienced the kind of chaos that occurred in the early days of the solar system's formation. Raphael Luke called this planetary system a "perfect solar system" and an ideal object for studying the formation and evolution of planetary systems.