There have been more than one thousand planets confirmed outside our Solar System, but only a few are within star clusters.
Using the European Southern Observatory’s HARPS instrument, researchers have found three new planets in the star cluster Messier 67.
Of these three newly discovered planets, two have been found orbiting stars similar to the sun.
Photo: AFP
照片:法新社
There are two main types of star clusters — open clusters and globular clusters.
An open cluster is a group of stars recently formed in a single cloud comprised of gas and dust.
Globular clusters are larger and older with the stars orbiting around the center of the galaxy.
Only six planets have been discovered in open clusters and none have been found in globular clusters.
Messier 67 is a star cluster located about 2,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation of Cancer. It contains around 500 stars.
In the Messier 67 star cluster the stars are all about the same age and composition as the Sun.
(Liberty Times)
在我們的太陽系之外確定有逾千顆行星,但很少位於星團。
利用歐洲南方天文台的HARPS儀器,研究人員發現梅西爾六十七星團裡有三顆新行星。
三個新發現的行星中,兩個被發現會繞著如同太陽一般的恆星運行。
星團的主要形式有兩種:開放星團與球狀星團。
開放星團是最近才在由瓦斯與微塵組成的單一星系中成形的恆星集團。
球狀星團是更大、更古老的恆星集團,在軌道上繞著星系核心運行。
歷來開放星團中僅發現六顆行星,球狀星團中則未曾發現。
梅西爾六十七是在巨蟹星座距離地球約兩千五百光年遠的星團。它包含約五百顆恆星。
梅西爾六十七星團中的恆星都跟太陽一樣老,也有類似的成分。
(自由時報/翻譯:詹立群)
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