- Feb 5, 2002
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An incredible space event might be happening in the heavens, and it is likely that we are going to miss it. The Kepler-89 system is so far the only other place in the universe where we have seen a planetary alignment, where two exoplanets end up eclipsing each other as they pass in front of their star. This means that four celestial bodies – Earth, the star Kepler-89 A, and two of its four planets, Kepler-89Ad and Kepler-89Ae – will all be on a single line. The team that saw it the first time think it's about to happen again.
The alignment of three or more celestial bodies is known as a syzygy... at least in the Solar System, it is. This is exactly what happens when there is a solar eclipse like the one happening this week (sorry, unless you're a penguin, it’s unlikely you’ll see it). Observations in 2010 saw the outermost planet in Kepler-89A eclipsing the second outermost world in the first known planet-planet eclipse seen outside our Solar System.
Continued below.
The alignment of three or more celestial bodies is known as a syzygy... at least in the Solar System, it is. This is exactly what happens when there is a solar eclipse like the one happening this week (sorry, unless you're a penguin, it’s unlikely you’ll see it). Observations in 2010 saw the outermost planet in Kepler-89A eclipsing the second outermost world in the first known planet-planet eclipse seen outside our Solar System.
Continued below.
