Artist’s impression of an exoplanet in a retrograde orbit

Up to now it was expected that exoplanets would all orbit in more or less the same plane, and that they would move along their orbits in the same direction as the star’s rotation — as they do in our Solar System. However, new results unexpectedly show that many exoplanets actually orbit at a large angle to their star’s spin axis. In the case shown here (WASP 8b) the orbit is completely reversed, or retrograde.

Bildnachweis:

ESO/L. Calçada

Über das Bild

ID:eso1016a
Typ:Illustration
Veröffentlichungsdatum:13. April 2010 12:00
Dazugehörige Veröffentlichungen:eso1016
Größe:3000 x 2120 px

Über das Objekt

Name:WASP 8b
Typ:Milky Way : Star : Circumstellar Material : Planetary System
Entfernung:280 Lichtjahre
Kategorie:Exoplanets
Illustrations

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