CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) 鈥 Astronomers reported Wednesday the discovery of what could be two planets sharing the same orbit around their star.
They said it鈥檚 the of this bizarre cosmic pairing, long suspected but never proven.
Using a telescope in Chile, the Spanish-led team spotted a cloud of debris in the same orbit as an already confirmed planet circling this star, 370 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus. They suspect it鈥檚 either a planet in formation or remnants of a planet that once was.
Asteroids are known to accompany planets around their star 鈥 for example, Jupiter and its so-called . But planets in the same orbit 鈥渉ave so far been like unicorns,鈥 noted study co-author Jorge Lillo-Box of Madrid鈥檚 Center for Astrobiology.
鈥淭hey are allowed to exist by theory, but no one has ever detected them,鈥 he said in a statement.
The scientists said they will need to wait until 2026 in order to properly track the two objects around the star known as PDS 70.
The confirmed planet with the suspected tagalong takes 119 years to complete a lap. A gas giant, it鈥檚 three times the size of Jupiter. Another gas giant is known to circle this star, albeit from a much greater distance.
Lead author Olga Balsalobre-Ruza of the Center for Astrobiology in Madrid, said the findings, published in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics, are 鈥渢he first evidence鈥 that such double worlds might exist.
鈥淲e can imagine that a planet can share its orbit with thousands of asteroids as in the case of Jupiter, but it is mind-blowing to me that planets could share the same orbit," she said in a statement.
___
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute鈥檚 Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
