Mohammad Farhat

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.

An exoplanet — a planet outside our solar system — follows a slightly elongated orbit. With each revolution, it swings closer to its parent star and then farther away.