Six Stars Orbit Each Other in the Only Known Sextuple System #SpaceSaturday

It would be nice to imagine that somewhere Nicolaus Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, and Galileo Galilei are laughing their heads off about system TYC 7037-89-1. Together they created, developed, and promoted the notion that the Earth goes around the Sun. At the risk of their very lives, these scientists dared to change the way we look at the heavens. Now astronomers at NASA have discovered a system that has six suns circling each other. In system TYC 7037-89-1 three sets of binary stars are in orbit around each other, around each other — that is, they’re around each other, twice. Here’s more from Astronomy Now:

The primary stars in all three binaries undergo periodic eclipses, passing in front of each other as viewed by TESS. The changing light curves show all three primary stars are slightly more massive than the sun, but about as hot. The secondary stars are roughly half the size the Sun.

The two stars making up the A binary orbit each other every 1.3 days while the stars in binary C orbit each other every 1.6 days. The A and C binary systems, in turn, orbit each other every four years. The two stars in the B system orbit each other every 8.2 days, but they take about 2,000 years two complete an orbit around the sextuple system’s center of gravity.

See and learn more!


Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat and our Discord!

Join us every Wednesday night at 8pm ET for Ask an Engineer!

Join over 38,000+ makers on Adafruit’s Discord channels and be part of the community! http://adafru.it/discord

CircuitPython – The easiest way to program microcontrollers – CircuitPython.org


New Products – Adafruit Industries – Makers, hackers, artists, designers and engineers! — New Products 11/15/2024 Featuring Adafruit bq25185 USB / DC / Solar Charger with 3.3V Buck Board! (Video)

Python for Microcontrollers – Adafruit Daily — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: A New Arduino MicroPython Package Manager, How-Tos and Much More! #CircuitPython #Python #micropython @ThePSF @Raspberry_Pi

EYE on NPI – Adafruit Daily — EYE on NPI Maxim’s Himalaya uSLIC Step-Down Power Module #EyeOnNPI @maximintegrated @digikey

Adafruit IoT Monthly — The 2024 Recap Issue!

Maker Business – Adafruit Daily — Apple to build another chip at TSMC Arizona

Electronics – Adafruit Daily — SMT Tip – Stop moving around!

Get the only spam-free daily newsletter about wearables, running a "maker business", electronic tips and more! Subscribe at AdafruitDaily.com !


No Comments

No comments yet.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.