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Astronomers Find Rare Triple-Star Planet (phys.org)

Phys.org is reporting the discovery of a rare planet with three different stars in its sky, two distant stars orbiting each other and a closer third star which would appear 40 times as large as our sun. Two robotically controlled telescopes -- one in Arizona, one in South Africa -- determined the gas giant planet KELT-4Ab was orbiting two separate stars which had always appeared to be one. The brighter third star will make it easier to study both the star itself and the nearby planet. "Known planets with three stars appearing in their sky are rare," reports Phys.org," adding "this new discovery is just the fourth, and it has caused excitement in the space community because it is the closest one yet, allowing for a better look than has been possible with the other finds."

"The environment in which this planet exists is quite spectacular," add Maciej Konacki from the California Institute of Technology, telling Space.com that "With three suns, the sky view must be out of this world -- literally and figuratively."

28 comments

  1. Star Trek Got There First by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708466/

    (Triskelion had three of everything including suns)

  2. DO NOT BROADCAST by Rob+Bos · · Score: 4, Funny

    do not repeat DO NOT send them a signal

    1. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by Rob+Bos · · Score: 2

      LOOKING AT YOU CHINA

    2. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      do not repeat DO NOT send them a signal

      Damn wayfarers and their cryptic messages ;)

    3. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by mysidia · · Score: 1

      do not repeat DO NOT send them a signal

      Too late. What's the worst that could happen?

    4. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by orledrat · · Score: 1

      You can't blame China for this one. China has five stars, not three, and most of 'em look like yellow dwarfs to me.

      (ffs that was unintended and truly beyond the pale)

    5. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      What's "Whoosh" in Chinese?

    6. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sender goes poof.

    7. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by orledrat · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure, whenever I'm in China I'm more concerned with things not going over my head. Door posts and such.

      Wait. Did I just fall for one of those lame "Wu is Chinese" jokes? :-(

    8. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      No, but, putting you out of your misery, you haven't read "The Three Body Problem".

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    9. Re:DO NOT BROADCAST by Gryle · · Score: 1

      Rob Bos, I am your wallbreaker...

      --
      Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not entirely sure about the universe - Einstein
  3. Pitch Black? by ihtoit · · Score: 2

    Not afraid of the dark, are you?

    (yes, it was a satellite of a ringed gas giant that orbited in a system with three suns: a red dwarf and a white dwarf which co-orbited outside the orbit of the planet M6-117 (the desert planet) and a blue giant in the barycentre. I think).

    Damn. I'm a geek.

    --
    Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
    1. Re:Pitch Black? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not afraid of the dark, are you?

      (yes, it was a satellite of a ringed gas giant that orbited in a system with three suns: a red dwarf and a white dwarf which co-orbited outside the orbit of the planet M6-117 (the desert planet) and a blue giant in the barycentre. I think).

      Damn. I'm a geek.

      Isn't that the planet where the prison transport crashed carrying that one big criminal ex-military guy .. years ago?? Forget his name.. started with an R something..
      R**Dick something.. I forget..

    2. Re:Pitch Black? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Paris and Riddick introducing themselves:

      Paris: Paris P. Olgilvie. Antiquities dealer, entrepreneur.
      Riddick: Richard B. Riddick. Escaped convict, murderer.

      Those were some good films and a couple of great tie-in games to go along with them too.

    3. Re:Pitch Black? by ihtoit · · Score: 1

      oh yes. I don't think they could top Katee Sackoff getting her kit off tho. :D

      SPOILER ALERT!

      Thrace gets nekkid.

      --
      Political debates have me rolling my eyes so much I think I got optical whiplash. I should sue. - Foamy The Squirrel
  4. Gas giant ... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    ... with mountains?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:Gas giant ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The picture is for another planet in a triple-star system. The caption reads:

      This artist's concept of HD 1885 Ab, the first known planet to reside in a triple-star system, would have a similar sunset to KELT-4Ab. Both systems host a pair of stars distantly orbiting the planet-hosting single sun. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

      Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-planet-triple-star.html#jCp

    2. Re:Gas giant ... by orledrat · · Score: 1

      The picture is for another planet in a triple-star system.

      Jeez. Things must be bad if they're even skimping on artist's concepts now :-(

    3. Re:Gas giant ... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      If you can see mountains on one and (at most) a faint diffused glow on the other then the sunsets are hardly similar, are they?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  5. Only three stars? by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

    Phys.org is reporting the discovery of a rare planet with three different stars in its sky

    That's nothing. I just looked out of my window and saw hundreds.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Only three stars? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Phys.org is reporting the discovery of a rare planet with three different stars in its sky

      That's nothing. I just looked out of my window and saw hundreds.

      I looked and saw one. Burned my eyes out. Thanks Obama.

  6. Gentleman Astronomer Holds out for Five Stars by dthirteen · · Score: 1

    Unimpressed with the nearby Three Star planet, the gentleman Astronomer holds out for a Five Star Planet.

  7. Three solar masses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Three solar masses = amount of mass converted into gravitational waves in a fraction of a second during the black hole merger event. http://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.061102

  8. Asimov's Nightfall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightfall_(Asimov_short_story_and_novel)

    1. Re:Asimov's Nightfall by erapert · · Score: 1

      I came here to post this.

      The Nightfall trilogy is one of Asimov's greats right up there with the Foundation series.

  9. No Dark Crystal references? by mendred · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sheesh am I old or what!

  10. Artist's Impression by digitig · · Score: 1

    The artist who drew the "artist's impression" of the planet clearly missed the bit about it being a gas giant.

    --
    Quidnam Latine loqui modo coepi?
    1. Re:Artist's Impression by bruce_the_loon · · Score: 1

      Nope, that's definitely a gas giant in the upper left. The general rule of artist's impressions of exo-planets is to draw them from an outside position, in this case a moon orbiting the planet, not from the surface of the planet.

      Phys.org buggered up the caption, but the link to space.com got it right from the original NASA page in '05. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/newworlds/threesun-071305a.html

      --
      Trying to become famous by taking photos. Visit my homepage please.