The Student News Site of Los Osos High School

The Grizzly Gazette

The Grizzly Gazette

The Grizzly Gazette

The “Perfect” New Solar System

Recently, astronomers have found a new solar system that includes six planets orbiting in harmony. They are orbiting around a sun-like star in our very own Milky Way, and was formed at least 4 billion years ago.

The star has been named by astronomers HD 110067, and may have more than six planets orbiting it, but astronomers have only found six planets so far.

This new solar system is 100 light years away from our solar system, which is equivalent to 5.8 trillion miles.

Being hot and gassy, the new planets in the solar system are known as sub-Neptunes. They are bigger than our solar system’s rocky planets, but not as big as Neptune and Uranus.

There are a few notable differences between the new solar system and the one we know and live in. 

The new solar system’s planets are all in orbits that are very close to the sun, closer than Mercury’s orbit in our solar system. This means that all the planets orbit the star in a matter of days.

Because their orbit is so close to the sun, they are too hot for a planet to be habitable, like Earth.

The most remarkable difference between the new solar system and ours is the orbit of the new solar system’s planets.

Our solar system’s planets have been hit by asteroids, affected by a star nearby, the formation of a massive planet, like Jupiter, and bounced around, and as a result, our planets are not in sync with each other anymore, if they started out in sync and probably will never be in sync again.

However, the new solar system has not been hit or moved at all. 

The solar system is still in its pristine condition, exactly how it was when it was first created.

It is because of this that the planets now orbit in resonance with each other. For example, one planet that is closer to the sun will make exactly three orbits around the sun while the planet further away from the star makes exactly two. 

This ratio is the same for planets: one to two,  two to three, and three to four, if one is the planet closest to the sun and six is the planet farthest away from the sun. The two outermost planets have a ratio of four orbits for every three.

 The perfect state of this solar system makes astronomers eager to compare it to our solar system.

The new discovery can help astronomers figure out exactly how our solar system came to be, and how it might have been like for our solar system at the very beginning, and even when it was formed. The new solar system may also explain the creations of countless other solar systems in the Milky Way.

The discovery of new solar systems also comes from the continuous search for Earth 2.0. 

Although none of the planets in the new solar system seem habitable, the new findings will continue to aid astronomers in the search for another habitable planet, and possible aliens. 

Donate to The Grizzly Gazette

Your donation will support the student journalists of Los Osos High School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

Donate to The Grizzly Gazette