CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A newly discovered mega planet has not one, not two, but three suns. What’s more, a year there lasts half a millennium from Earth’s perspective.
Triple-star systems with detected planets are rare enough. But the giant gassy world in this one has the biggest known orbit in a multi-star system. Its orbit is double Pluto’s — or roughly 550 Earth years. That’s how long it takes to orbit its system’s brightest star, a super-size sun.
During part of the planet’s orbit, all three stars are visible on the same day, offering triple sunrises and sunsets. Other times, there’s continuous daylight.
A University of Arizona-led team used a telescope in Chile to spot this strange new world 320 light years away in the Constellation Centaurus. The finding was revealed Thursday.
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