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Space

Exoplanet in a triple star system may orbit all three at once

By Leah Crane

28 September 2021

AArtist's impression of a planet near three stars

Artist’s impression of a planet in a triple star system

Photo by Granger/Shutterstock

Most of the planets astronomers have found orbit only one star – a few orbit two, but so far we’ve never spotted an exoplanet that orbits three stars simultaneously. Now, researchers have spotted hints of a young world with three host stars.

These hints come from a stellar system called GW Orionis, which consists of two stars orbiting one another at about the same distance that Earth sits from the sun, and a third circling those two about eight times further away. Encircling this system is a…

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