Earth only has one parent star , but other planets exist in systems much different than our own . Binary asterisk systems are more common than single principal , and though planets in triple adept system are more rarefied , they are not unheard of . However , researchers have now identified a planet that is only the 2d one to ever be discover in a quadruple star system . The existence of the planet was confirmed through observation from the Palomar Observatory in California . The research has been discover in theAstronomical Journal .
The planet , which is count a " hot Jupiter , " has been dubbed 30 Ari and exists in the constellation Aries , 136 light - years from Earth . It is not habitable , as it is incredibly unaired to its chief star topology . It only takes three Earth days for the major planet to dispatch one eye socket .
" About four percent of solar - eccentric champion are in four-fold systems , which is up from premature estimates because experimental techniques are steady better , ” carbon monoxide gas - author Andrei Tokovinin from the Cerro Tololo Inter - American Observatory said in apress release .
Despite the number of quadruple star systems out in the galaxy , 30 Ari is only the second exoplanet in such a organization to be support . It follow the 2013 uncovering of KIC 4862625 , which is about 5,000 lightsome - year off . The satellite was let out via observations from NASA ’s Kepler Space Telescope . It is hoped that more planets in unconventional system will be discovered in ordering to increase the physical structure of noesis on how satellite form under a salmagundi of term .
" Star systems come in unnumberable physical body . There can be individual stars , binary star , triple stars , even quintuple star system , " add up lead author Lewis Roberts of Jet Propulsion Laboratory . " It ’s awesome the path nature puts these things together . ”
This system is fairly odd , however , because the hotshot in the organization are a long distance away from one another . The elementary and junior-grade star are 44,000 astronomical units ( AU ) away from one another . One AU is the ordinary distance from the Earth to the sunshine . The third asterisk in the organization is closer to the primary coil , as it is 28 AU off . The 4th star discovered is the most proximal , at 23 AU .
Though it seems counterintuitive , the fourth — and near — star is not believe to have meet a part in 30 Ari ’s organisation . However , the complex gravitative pull from the other three are believed to have tempt the satellite ’s sizing .
" This issue strengthens the association between multiple star systems and massive planets , " Roberts concluded .
