Planet Rotating Opposite To Star
- 18-Feb-2021
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Scientists discover rare backward star rotating in opposite direction to its planets
Scientists in Denmark have recently discovered a distant planetary system harbouring two planets that orbit a star rotating backwards.
Simon Albrecht, a scientist with Aarhus University and his colleagues have found two stars that rotate backwards in a planetary system that is 897 light years away from the Earth. The system, namely, K2-290 consists of three stars and has two planets orbiting the main star, K2-290 A.
Generally, in the planetary system, the planets and their stars rotate in the same direction. For example in our solar system, the Sun spins in almost the exact same direction as Earth and other seven planets.
According to the scientists, when K2-290 A is compared with both planets' orbits, its rotational axis is tilted by approximately 124 degrees, which indicates that the star spins in the opposite direction to its two orbiting planets.
