Explanation: Triple star system GW Orionis appears to demonstrate that planets can form and orbit in multiple planes. In contrast, all the planets and moons in our Solar System orbit in nearly the same plane. The picturesque system has three prominent stars, a warped disk, and inner tilted rings of gas and grit. The featured animation characterizes the GW Ori system from observations with the European Southern Observatory's VLT and ALMA telescopes in Chile. The first part of the illustrative video shows a grand vista of the entire system from a distant orbit, while the second sequence takes you inside the tilted rings to resolve the three central co-orbiting stars. Computer simulations indicate that multiple stars in systems like GW Ori could warp and break-up disks into unaligned, exoplanet-forming rings.
aljo wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 8:59 am
Titled? As in Duke, Earl, Viscount etc.?
Yes, thank you. That typo has now been fixed (Titled --> Tilted).
I apologize for the oversight. - RJN
The YouTube video (as of 10:00 a.m. EDT) has the same typo.
A Titleist Sphere?
Re: APOD: GW Orionis: A Star System with Rings... (2020 Sep 29)
Posted: Tue Sep 29, 2020 10:54 pm
by TheOtherBruce
Phobos1 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:13 pm
No planets for you, GW Orionis. The eccentric orbit of the third star is really messing things up.
It might be more the size of GW Ori C's orbit that affects planet formation. If it were closer to A and B, or significantly further away, then there might be room for planets-as-we-know-them to form. Going by the video, though, the only planets to form from this are more likely to be way, way out; is there such a thing as "Frozen Jupiters"? And it's a young system — none of the stars are even on the main sequence yet — with all elements over the mass of our sun. That's going to cut the main sequence lifetime down by quite a bit.
GW Orionis: A Star System with Titled Rings
Be careful Johnny ; You never know what's out there!
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