Circular orbits of small exoplanets: Which Earth-sized exoplanets are potentially habitable?
Monday, June 1, 2015 - 11:01
in Astronomy & Space
Viewed from above, our solar system's planetary orbits around the sun resemble rings around a bulls-eye. Each planet, including Earth, keeps to a roughly circular path, always maintaining the same distance from the sun. For decades, astronomers have wondered whether the solar system's circular orbits might be a rarity in our universe. Now a new analysis suggests that such orbital regularity is instead the norm, at least for systems with planets as small as Earth.