Mathematically perfect’ star system discovered 105 light-years from Earth may still be in its infancy. Could that change its prospects for life?

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Recent findings suggest that the star system HD 110067, previously thought to be 8 billion years old, might be significantly younger, possibly around 2.5 billion years old. This discovery has implications for the potential development of life within the system.
Why a Younger Age Matters for Life:

  • Planetary Evolution: The age of a star system directly influences the evolution of its planets. Younger systems often have more active stars, which can lead to stronger stellar winds and more frequent bombardment by comets and asteroids. These factors can disrupt the development of life-supporting conditions on planets.
  • Biological Complexity: The emergence of complex life forms, such as multicellular organisms and eventually intelligent beings, requires significant amounts of time. A younger system might not have had enough time for such complex life to evolve.
  • Stability of Planetary Orbits: The gravitational interactions between planets in a young system can be more dynamic, potentially leading to unstable orbits and making it less likely for planets to maintain habitable conditions over long periods.
    However, the younger age of HD 110067 doesn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of life:
  • Resilience of Life: Life on Earth has shown remarkable resilience in the face of various challenges, including asteroid impacts and changing environmental conditions. It’s possible that life could also emerge and thrive in a younger system.
  • Potential for Future Habitability: Even if a young system isn’t currently habitable, the evolution of its planets over billions of years could eventually lead to conditions suitable for life.
    Further Research:
    More research is needed to refine the age estimate of HD 110067 and to better understand the conditions on its planets. Future observations could reveal more about the system’s history, the potential for habitability, and the possibility of life.
    In conclusion:
    While the younger age of HD 110067 might present challenges for the development of life, it doesn’t necessarily rule it out. The system’s potential for habitability remains an open question that will require further investigation.

HD 110067 is a star with six known sub-Neptuneexoplanets (b, c, d, e, f, g) with radii ranging from 1.94 R to 2.85 R. The planets orbit the host star in a rhythmic orbital resonance. The star, and related planetary system, is located 105 light-years away in the constellation Coma Berenices

Discovery

The two innermost exoplanets orbiting HD 110067, a bright K0-type star, were first detected by the TESS (NASAspace telescope, using the transit method, in 2020. The remaining four exoplanets were later confirmed in 2023 as a result of additional observations using the CHEOPS (European Space Agency) space telescope

Scientific importance

On 29 November 2023, an international team of astronomers, led by Rafael Luque, astronomer from the University of Chicago, published a review of the discovery in the journal Nature entitled, “A resonant sextuplet of sub-Neptunes transiting the bright star HD 110067”.[3] According to Luque, “It’s like looking at a fossil: The orbits of the planets today are the same as they were a billion years ago.”[9]

Further study of the HD 110067 planetary system may provide a better understanding of how the pattern of the planetary orbits in the Solar System arose, which once may have begun harmoniously, but later turned chaotic. The result, possibly, of a passing star or planet or some other astronomical object capable of disrupting the nascent harmonic orbital dynamics. Additionally, further studies of the system, including compositional studies of the planetary interiors and atmospheres, may also provide a better understanding of the conditions that potentially may support life

Planetary system

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Six known sub-Neptune exoplanets (b, c, d, e, f, g) with planetary radii ranging from 1.94 R to 2.85 R from HD 110067, the host star. All planets are smaller than Neptune and have large atmospheres. The star and related planetary system are located 100 light years away, in the constellation Coma Berenices. Masses of all six of the planets in the system range from 3.9 M(mass of Earth) to 8.5 M. All of the planetary orbits in the HD 110067 system are closer to their star than distance between the planet Mercury and the Sun.

The planets orbit the host star in synchronized rhythms of orbital resonance(a rare 1 percent of such systems in the Milky Way galaxy have this symmetry): the innermost planet orbits three times for every two times for the next planet out – a so-called 3:2 resonance; this same 3:2 resonance also applies to the second and third planet, as well as to the third and fourth planet; whereas the fourth planet orbits four times for every three times for the fifth planet out – in a so-called 4:3 resonance; additionally, the penultimate fifth planet orbits the sixth planet out in this same 4:3 resonance. Further, the innermost planet completes six orbits in exactly the same time the outermost planet completes one orbit.

What type of star is HD 110067?

K0-type star

Main. HD 110067 (TIC 347332255) is a bright K0-typestar in the constellation of Coma Berenices with mass and radius of approximately 80% of the Sun’

What does HD mean in stars?

The HD catalogue is named after Henry Draper, an amateur astronomer, and covers the entire sky almost completely down to an apparent photographic magnitude of about 9; the extensions added fainter stars in certain areas of the sky.

Star with six exoplanets

The discovery was made during the study of the star system HD110067. It is located at a distance of 100 light-years from Earth in the direction of the constellation Coma Berenices. During the analysis of data collected by the TESS and CHEOPS space telescopes, the researchers found periodic brightness changes caused by the transits of companions orbiting the star.

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