December 23, 2024
NASA’s exoplanet hunter TESS spots a record-breaking three-star system

NASA’s exoplanet hunter TESS spots a record-breaking three-star system

Using NASA’s exoplanet-hunting spacecraft, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), scientists have discovered a record-breaking triple star system so closely linked that it could fit comfortably between the Sun and the nearest planet, Mercury.

The system, named TIC 290061484, contains twin stars that race around each other once every 1.8 Earth days, as well as a third star that orbits the pair once every 25 Earth days. The super-close orbit of this triple star system, located just under 5,000 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus the Swan, makes it a record breaker.

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