Planetary system

   

A planetary system consists of at least one star and various orbiting objects (such as asteroids, comets, moons, and planets). Another name for this collection is solar system, not to be confused with the Solar System, the planetary system that contains Earth and Sol.


Origin and evolution of planetary systems

Planetary systems are generally believed to form as part of the same process which results in star formation. Historically there were some models in which planetary systems were formed by some kind of accidental "stellar near-collison", however the probability of such a near collision is now widely considered to be far to low to make this a viable model. The more common theory argues that the objects of a planetary system developed from a solar nebula.

Significant planetary systems

  • Solar System - our planetary system, the first planetary system discovered, the first multiplanet planetary system discovered
  • PSR 1257+12 - the first extrasolar planetary system discovered, the first pulsar planetary system discovered, the first multi exoplanet system discoverd, the first multi planet system with a pulsar discovered
  • Upsilon Andromedae - the first multiplanet extrasolar planetary system discovered around a main sequence star, found to be so in April 1999
  • PSR B1620-26 - the first multistar planetary system discovered
  • 55 Cancri - the largest extra solar planetary system discovered (4 planets, as of August 2004)

Other resources

See also

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