New Exoplanet Discovery is Spinning in an Unusual Way

Here is a background on things.  Specifically why this is so bizarre by our limited understanding at least of these planetary properties:

When two rotating objects are close together, they influence each other through the conservation of angular momentum, says Penev. Rotating motion is removed from one object and transferred to the other, a process known as tidal dissipation.

n the HATS-18 system, the opposite is happening. The planet is moving closer to the star, which is thus speeding up. Penev and his colleagues figured this out when they noticed the star was spinning around too fast for its size and age, meaning something was causing it to rotate faster.

Is that trippy or what!  We expect more cool updates in regards to this latest find so check back as astronomers can get in more data to study.

thanks to newscientist.com for the great info

thanks to cornell library for the great info



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36 Comments

  10. Dale Capavanni said:

    Perhaps the smaller planet orbiting is denser? Or would this theoretically cause the star to orbit the planet? I don’t really know enough of this subject or physics in general to do anything other than guess. Maybe the star has some kind of pull we’re unaware of on a planet that’s denser causing the stars increased spin?

    Reply
  13. Alex Kaiser said:

    Could be a cataclysmic volcanic event so intense it rocketed too much of its guts to one side the planet making it wobbly

    Reply
  24. Justin Edwards said:

    It’s actually a fairly well understood phenomenon based on the conservation of angular momentum and tidal effects. It’s the same basic concept between the earth and the moon. The gravitational effect on the Earth’s tides from the fact that the Earth is spinning faster than the moon is revolving around it causes a transfer of energy from the earth to the moon and is actually slowing the rotation of the earth as that momentum is added to the moon. The moon is also being pushed away from the earth through the same principle.

    This interaction between the star and exoplanet is based on exactly the same principle, but working in reverse. A planet circling a star faster than the star spins will cause the spin to increase while the planet’s orbit loses energy while it moves in closer to the star. Mars and one of its moon is doing the same thing. Eventually the exoplanet and Mars’s moon will crash to the surface of their parent bodies.

    Reply
  25. Dale Capavanni said:

    I believe it’s possible to go mad contemplating the vastness of the infinite. Was thinking more about this when at some point I started to wonder about direction in space. The possibility of the universe and it’s possible expansion as an aspect to be included. It was such an abstract thought with so many (infinite) variables.

    Reply
  27. Jarrod Reed said:

    The wonders of our universe never cease to amaze me. I just wish we had interstellar capability. I would love to be able to explore the wonders and see them with my own eyes, instead reading about it. Well hopefully one day we will be able to traverse space.

    Reply
  29. Robert Barrett said:

    Whenever I click on an article I can’t read it because half of it is cut off and i can’t move the page to be able to read. Unfollowing.

    Reply
  34. Marc Troyer said:

    No it is not ! It is spinning as all planets with its makeup and orbit around a star with the same makeup is supposed to orbit ! It’s not unusual at all ! Learn the meaning of words if you wish to write with the intentions of informing !

    Reply
  35. Marc Troyer said:

    We have discovered less then 4000 Planets which is less then .000000000000000000000000001 percent of the planets in our galaxy alone therefore you have no idea how planets usually orbit. The fact that this planet was discovered so soon and out of only 3000 planets means it’s most likely very very common.

    Reply

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