Deadly Resonance: How Stars Toss Out Planets ⚡ экспресс
Astronomers were puzzled: why don’t binary stars that orbit each other in a week or less have planets? New research shows that as the stars draw closer, a special resonance kicks in—like rhythmic pushes that rock a swing. The planet loses momentum, its orbit stretches out, and eventually it either flies off into space or gets swallowed by the stars. Tight binaries thus clear their surroundings by themselves.
Two stars, drawing together in a cosmic dance, experience an extra wobble — a consequence of spacetime curvature (an effect predicted by Einstein). A planet orbiting them also wobbles. Sometimes the rhythms align: the gravitational tugs from the stars fall in step with the planet’s orbit, like hands pushing a swing. That’s resonance — the orbit stretches, and the planet gets launched from its place.
This is how rogue planets are born: eight out of ten planets around close binary systems fall into this deadly resonance, and three quarters perish. The rest hide far away. That’s why no planets have been found around stellar pairs with orbital periods shorter than seven days — their tight co-habitation mercilessly sweeps everything around away.
🎯 Some binary stars complete a full orbit in just a few hours — their “day” is shorter than a workday. And the distance between them is smaller than from the Sun to Mercury.