Scientists have shown the rotation of the planet in a binary system - with two stars

Approximately 20 light years from Earth, which is quite close by space standards, scientists have found a star that is part of a binary system. In other words, this star has a second twin luminary connected with it by common gravity.

After a thorough analysis of the data from this system, the researchers were able to determine the rotation cycles of stars and create visual three-dimensional visualization, showing the orbits of not only both luminaries, but also the planet wandering with this pair.

In the presented video, the blue beam corresponds to the orbit of the planet in the binary system, where the yellow dot in the center is the first star, and the red beam shows the orbit of the second.

The larger of the two stars that orbits the exoplanet has about 44% of the mass of our Sun, while the smaller one has only 17%. They revolve around each other every 229 Earth years, while a planet within the system orbits its star every 284 days.

The exoplanet itself, dubbed GJ 896Ab, looks like a twin of Jupiter, but with about twice the mass. It is closer to its star than Venus is to the Sun.

For the study of GJ896AB, the scientists collected optical observations spanning a staggering range of time from 1941 to 2017. They then turned to data from the US National Radio Astronomy Observatory's powerful VLBA antenna between 2006 and 2011, and also made new observations in 2020.