Khaberni - Astronomers unveiled an unusual planetary system orbiting a red dwarf star, a discovery that astounded the scientific community as it showed a planet configuration opposing the traditional model known in our solar system.
The researchers clarified according to "Agence France-Presse" that the star, known as LHS 1903, is located in the thick disk region of the Milky Way galaxy, and four planets were observed orbiting it using data from several telescopes, including the European Space Telescope “CHEOPS” designated for studying exoplanets.
While our solar system follows a clear pattern, where the smaller rocky planets are near the Sun, followed by the giant gaseous planets in the farther regions, the new system displayed a different arrangement.
The planet closest to the star is rocky, followed by two gaseous planets, with the surprise being a fourth distant rocky planet as well.
Thomas Wilson, the lead author of the study published in the journal “Science,” said that this arrangement makes the system seem “flipped inside out,” explaining that the sequence of planets is as follows: rocky, then gaseous, then gaseous, and then rocky again.
Scientists usually speculate that planets close to their stars are rocky due to the strong radiation that prevents them from retaining gases, while gaseous planets form in the colder and further regions. However, the presence of a rocky planet on the outskirts of this system led researchers to consider a different explanation.
After studying several hypotheses, the team proposed a scenario based on sequential rather than simultaneous planet formation, contrary to the popular theory that assumes planets form simultaneously within an initial gaseous and dusty planetary disk.
According to this interpretation, the fourth planet may have formed in a stage where the system had exhausted most of its gas, preventing it from evolving into a gas giant. Wilson considered that this discovery could represent the first evidence of a planet formed in a gas-depleted environment.
This discovery comes in the context of expanding the astronomical database, as more than 6000 exoplanets have been observed since the 1990s, most of them through measuring slight changes in the brightness of stars as planets pass in front of them.
Meanwhile, researcher Isabel Rebollido, who specializes in the study of planetary disks at the European Space Agency, pointed out that the diversity of newly discovered planetary systems prompts scientists to reassess models of planet formation, confirming that previous theories relied heavily on the characteristics of our solar system alone.
