The Four Suns of HD 98800
Explanation:
How would it look to have four suns in the sky?
Planets of the
HD 98800 system,
if they exist, would experience such a view.
HD 98800 is a
multiple star system
about 150 light years from Earth -- right in our section of the
Milky Way Galaxy.
For years it has been known that
HD 98800 consists of two pairs of
double stars,
with one pair surrounded by a disk of dust.
The star pairs are located about 50
AU
from each other -- in comparison just outside the orbit of
Pluto.
Recent data from the Earth-orbiting
Spitzer Space Telescope
in
infrared
light,
however, indicate that the dust disk has gaps that appear consistent with being
cleared by planets orbiting in the disk.
If so, one planet appears to be orbiting at a distance similar to Mars of
our own Solar System.
Pictured
above is an artist's drawing of what how the
HD 98800 system might appear to a nearby observer.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
