Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a triple-star exoplanet located 1,800 light-years from Earth. Planets parked in multi-star systems are rare, but this object is particularly unusual owing to its inexplicably weird orbital alignment.
. Around 10% of all star systems involve three stars, according to NASA. Planets have been spotted in triple-star systems before, and also within binary star systems, but such discoveries remain rare. Multiple star systems, it would seem, don’t tend to host a lot of planets. This could mean that the conditions for the formation of planets are not ideal in these settings, but it could be the result of an observational selection effect, in that it might be tougher for astronomers to spot planets in multiple-star systems compared to single-star systems.
Can the orbital dynamics of systems like this be long term stable? Or are they always ephemeral? (@physicists )