Planet locations
Pro Research Analysisby 
Searched over 200M research papers for "planet locations"
Planet Locations: Insights from Recent Research
TRAPPIST-1 System: Seven Earth-like Planets
The TRAPPIST-1 system, located 12 parsecs away, hosts seven Earth-sized planets orbiting an ultracool dwarf star. These planets were discovered through photometric monitoring from both ground and space-based observatories. The six inner planets form a near-resonant chain with orbital periods of 1.51, 2.42, 4.04, 6.06, 9.1, and 12.35 days, suggesting they migrated inward from their formation locations. The equilibrium temperatures of these planets are low enough to potentially support liquid water on their surfaces, making them prime candidates for atmospheric characterization with current and future astronomical facilities1.
Planet 9: Hypothetical Outer Solar System Object
Localization Efforts with Uranus Mission
The existence of a hypothetical Planet 9 has been proposed to explain the clustering of trans-Neptunian objects. A future Uranus mission could help localize Planet 9 by monitoring spacecraft ranging data during interplanetary cruise. Simulations suggest that daily measurements could localize Planet 9 to an area of approximately 0.2 square degrees, with significant improvements possible with better noise reduction2.
Constraints from Planetary Ephemerides
Using the INPOP19a planetary ephemerides, researchers tested possible locations for Planet 9 by analyzing its perturbations on the orbits of outer planets, particularly Saturn. The study concluded that if Planet 9 exists, it must be at least 500 AU away with a mass of 5 Earth masses, or 650 AU away with a mass of 10 Earth masses. No clear zone indicating the positive existence of Planet 9 was found, but certain zones were compatible with the ephemerides' accuracy3.
Interstellar Meteoroid as a Messenger
An interstellar meteoroid, CNEOS 2014-01-08, has been proposed as a potential messenger indicating the presence of Planet 9. The meteoroid's trajectory aligns with the maximum probability region for Planet 9's location, suggesting it could have been flung towards Earth by a gravitational encounter with the hypothetical planet. This hypothesis provides a candidate location at coordinates R.A. 53.0 ± 4.0, decl. 9.2 ± 1.34.
Planet X: Potential Tenth Planet
Residuals in the observed positions of Uranus and Neptune have been used to constrain the location of a postulated Planet X. The analysis suggests that this hypothetical planet is most likely located in the region of Scorpius, with a lesser likelihood of being in Taurus5.
β Pictoris System: A Young Giant Planet
The β Pictoris system, approximately 10 million years old, hosts a massive giant planet, β Pictoris b, located 8 to 15 AU from the star. This planet was confirmed through images obtained with the Very Large Telescope. The planet's proximity to its star supports the theory that gas giant planets can form rapidly within stellar dust disks via core accretion6.
Circumbinary Planets: Migration and Final Locations
The Kepler mission has discovered several planets orbiting binary star systems, most of which lie near their instability boundaries. Hydrodynamical simulations of circumbinary discs with embedded planets suggest that disc-driven migration can explain the final parking locations of these planets. For systems with intermediate binary eccentricities, the observed planetary orbits closely match the simulations, supporting the idea that planet migration in the disc brought the planets to their present locations7 10.
Giant Planet Occurrence Rates and the Snow Line
The distribution of giant planets as a function of orbital period reveals a break near the snow line (2-3 AU), where the occurrence rate decreases with distance from the star. This trend is consistent across Kepler and radial velocity surveys and aligns with direct imaging survey results. The findings suggest that only a fraction of disk structures around young stars can be attributed to giant planets, providing insights into planet formation and migration mechanisms8.
Sandwiched Planet Formation
Simulations of protoplanetary discs with one or two embedded planets show that the presence of an outer planet can influence the collection of solid material near an inner planet. This effect can reduce the mass of a potential third planet forming in the inner pressure bump, resulting in a smaller planet being sandwiched between two more massive planets. This phenomenon has been observed in several planetary systems, challenging the expected trend of increasing planet mass with radial distance from the host star9.
Conclusion
Recent research has provided significant insights into the locations and formation mechanisms of various planetary systems. From the resonant chain of Earth-like planets in the TRAPPIST-1 system to the ongoing search for the elusive Planet 9, these studies enhance our understanding of planetary dynamics and the potential for habitable worlds beyond our solar system.
Sources and full results
Most relevant research papers on this topic
Seven temperate terrestrial planets around the nearby ultracool dwarf star TRAPPIST-1
Seven Earth-like planets orbit TRAPPIST-1, with temperatures low enough for liquid water on their surfaces, suggesting they formed further from the star and migrated inwards.
Very Rigorous Journal
Highly CitedProspects for localizing Planet 9 with a future Uranus mission
The proposed Uranus mission could potentially localize Planet 9's sky location and mass, offering significant potential for non-Uranian science.
New constraints on the location of P9 obtained with the INPOP19a planetary ephemeris
The unknown planet P9 cannot be closer than 500 AU with a 5M and no closer than 650 AU with a 10M, but there are zones compatible with the 3accuracy of the INPOP planetary ephemerides.
A Candidate Location for Planet Nine from an Interstellar Meteoroid: The Messenger Hypothesis
The peculiar meteor CNEOS 2014-01-08 may serve as a messenger for Planet Nine, suggesting a region at coordinates R.A. 53.°0 4.°3, decl. 9.°2 1.°3 as a plausible candidate location for the undiscovered massive object.
The Location of Planet X
The location of a postulated tenth planet is most likely in the region of Scorpius, with less likelihood in Taurus.
A Giant Planet Imaged in the Disk of the Young Star β Pictoris
The 10-million-year-old star Pictoris has a young, giant planet, Pictoris b, orbiting within its dusty disk, confirming that gas giant planets form rapidly within disks.
Highly CitedParking planets in circumbinary discs
Planet migration in circumbinary discs can accurately match observed orbits in six out of ten systems with intermediate binary eccentricities.
Hints for a Turnover at the Snow Line in the Giant Planet Occurrence Rate
The occurrence rate of giant planets decreases with distance from the star, suggesting only a fraction of structures detected in disks around young stars can be attributed to them.
Highly Cited