Circumtriple planet

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A circumtriple planet is a planet that is orbiting not only a single star but three stars at the same time. [1] Such planets are likely to be very rare objects in the universe. [2] Studying them could add to human understanding of how planets form. [3]

Contents

Examples

Gliese 900 (the brightest star) and its planet (circled) as seen by the WISE telescope. GJ900 AB unWISE.jpg
Gliese 900 (the brightest star) and its planet (circled) as seen by the WISE telescope.

The only confirmed circumtriple planet, as of 2024, is Gliese 900 b (CWISE J233531.55+014219.6). It was found to be gravitationally bound to the Gliese 900 system in 2024, at a projected separation of 12,000  au , [4] thus becoming the planet with the longest orbital period.

Candidates

Schematic diagram showing a proposed geometry of the GW Orionis star system. Scientists have observed abnormalities in the behavior patterns of the three stars and have speculated that an unseen planet may be orbiting all three stars simultaneously. GW Orionis 1.jpg
Schematic diagram showing a proposed geometry of the GW Orionis star system. Scientists have observed abnormalities in the behavior patterns of the three stars and have speculated that an unseen planet may be orbiting all three stars simultaneously.

As of 2021, it is suspected that the star system GW Orionis, which contains a large disk of dust and gases and is about 1,300 light years away from Earth, has a circumtriple planet within an gap observed in the dust cloud. [5] The planet itself has not been seen but its influence may explain gravitational oddities within the star system. [3] By using computer modeling, some scientists believe that a Jupiter-sized planet may be able to explain the star system's rings and strange behavior, according to one account. [2] If confirmed, this may be the first known example of a circumtriple planet. [2]

In 2022, tentative evidence of a very small planet was found around the triple system PSR J0337+1715. [6] In 2024, additional data allowed the planet's mass to be constrained to 0.0041±0.003  M🜨 , making it one of the smallest objects directly detected outside the Solar System so far. [7] However, in 2025 it was suggested that the planet is not real, but instead an artifact of "red noise", which is a product of variability within the pulsar in the system. [8]

Fiction

A circumtriple planet is prominently featured in the Remembrance of Earth's Past book series. In the series, the planet of Trisolaris orbits a three-star system, and the chaotic nature of the system drives the native species of the planet to seek refuge on Earth, which has a comparatively more "stable" one-star system. [9]

References

  1. ↑ Kelly Kizer Whitt (October 1, 2021). "Circumtriple planet suspected: a planet orbiting 3 stars". EarthSky.org. Retrieved October 6, 2021. ...The suspected planets are not the first found in triple star systems. But planets found in those other systems orbited just one of the stars, not all three stars....
  2. 1 2 3 Brandon Specktor (October 1, 2021). "Exceptionally rare planet with three suns may lurk in Orion's nose: A Jupiter-sized world may be kicking up dust in the triple-star system GW Ori". Live Science. Retrieved October 6, 2021. ...There's now even more evidence that a bizarre star system perched on the constellation Orion's nose may contain the rarest type of planet in the known universe: a single world orbiting three suns simultaneously....
  3. 1 2 University of Nevada (October 2, 2021). "Astronomers may have discovered first planet to orbit 3 stars: Potential discovery of a circumtriple planet has implications for bolstering our understanding of planet formation". Science Daily. Retrieved October 6, 2021. ...In a distant star system -- a mere 1,300 light years away from Earth -- researchers may have identified the first known planet to orbit three stars....
  4. ↑ Rothermich, Austin; Faherty, Jacqueline K.; Bardalez-Gagliuffi, Daniella; Schneider, Adam C.; Kirkpatrick, J. Davy; Meisner, Aaron M.; Burgasser, Adam J.; Kuchner, Marc; Allers, Katelyn; Gagné, Jonathan; Caselden, Dan; Calamari, Emily; Popinchalk, Mark; Suárez, Genaro; Gerasimov, Roman (2024-06-01). "89 New Ultracool Dwarf Comoving Companions Identified with the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project". The Astronomical Journal. 167 (6): 253. arXiv: 2403.04592 . Bibcode:2024AJ....167..253R. doi: 10.3847/1538-3881/ad324e . ISSN   0004-6256.
  5. ↑ Jonathan O’Callaghan (September 28, 2021). "This May Be the First Planet Found Orbiting 3 Stars at Once: It's called a circumtriple planet, and evidence that one exists suggests that planet formation is less unusual than once believed". The New York Times. Retrieved October 6, 2021. ..."It may be the first evidence of a circumtriple planet carving a gap in real time," said Jeremy Smallwood from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, lead author of the new paper....
  6. ↑ Voisin, Guillaume; Luth, G.; Cognard, I.; Freire, P.; Wex, N.; Guillemot, L.; Desvignes, G.; Kramer, M.; Theureau, G.; Saillenfest, M. (2022). "One pulsar, two white dwarfs, and a planet confirming the strong equivalence principle". arXiv: 2205.09345 [astro-ph.HE].
  7. ↑ Voisin, G.; Cognard, I.; Saillenfest, M.; Tauris, T. M.; Wex, N.; Guillemot, L.; Theureau, G.; Freire, P. C. C.; Kramer, M. (2025). "Explanation of the exceptionally strong timing noise of PSR J0337+1715 by a circum-ternary planet and consequences for gravity tests". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 693: A143. arXiv: 2411.10066 . Bibcode:2025A&A...693A.143V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/202452100.
  8. ↑ Laycock, Silas G. T.; Christodoulou, Dimitris M. (March 2025). "On the Number of Confirmed Pulsar Planets: The Rule of Six". The Astrophysical Journal. 982 (1): 63. Bibcode:2025ApJ...982...63L. doi: 10.3847/1538-4357/adb1a8 . ISSN   0004-637X.
  9. ↑ Liu, Cixin (2008). The Three Body Problem. Chongqing Press. p. 1. ISBN   978-7-5366-9293-0.

Further reading

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