The Milky Way's 'perfect' solar system discovered

Simulation of the orbits of 6 planets around the central star

Astronomers have used two satellites dubbed "planet hunters" - NASA's TESS and the European Space Agency's (ESA) Cheops - to solve a cosmic mystery and help find a rare solar system located about 100 light-years from Earth.

The orbits of the six planets are centered around the sun-like star HD110067, located in the northern constellation Coma Berenices.

Larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune, the above planets all belong to a class of little-known planets called sub-Neptunes.

The term sub-Neptune is used to refer to a planet with a radius smaller than Neptune, although it may be more massive, or to a planet with a mass less than Neptune but a larger radius.

And these planets, named b through g, orbit their central stars in a dance that researchers call "primordial."

Primitive dance

According to a report published in the journal Nature , the team of astronomers discovered that the planets move in a clear pattern and exert gravitational force on each other.

Specifically, after the nearest planet b completes 6 orbits around the central star, the outermost planet g will complete its orbit.

When planet c completes 3 orbits, planet d completes exactly 2 orbits. And when planet e completes 4 orbits, planet f completes 3 orbits.

The above harmony creates a resonance chain, with all six planets aligning again after a few orbits.

What makes this family of planets "unique" is that every movement appears to be the same as when they first formed more than 1 billion years ago.

What happened showed that the star system seemed to be still in a stable state, not affected by external forces.

Studying the star system HD110067 promises to allow astronomers to solve the secrets of the planets in our solar system.

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