In our Solar System, the eight planets and many other minor objects orbit in a flat plane around the Sun; but in some distant systems, planets orbit on an incline -- sometimes a very steep one. New work could explain the architecture of multi-star systems in which planets are separated by wide gaps and do not orbit on the same plane as their host star's equatorial center.

在咱們太陽系中，八顆行星及諸多其他較小天體，在圍繞太陽的一個平面上，繞軌運行。不過，在某些遙遠系(根據一定自然規律組成的一群天體)中，諸多行星在一種傾斜、有時候非常陡的面上，繞軌運行。新研究能解釋，諸多行星相距很遠且不在與其主恆星赤道中心之相同平面上，繞軌運行的多恆星系結構。

The discovery that our galaxy is teeming with exoplanets has also revealed the vast diversity of planetary systems out there and raised questions about the processes that shaped them.

該項咱們星系充斥著太陽系外行星的發現也已經揭露，在太陽系外，行星系的極大多樣性，引發了諸多有關其形成過程的問題。

New work published in Science by an international team including Carnegie's Jaehan Bae could explain the architecture of multi-star systems in which planets are separated by wide gaps and do not orbit on the same plane as their host star's equatorial center.

該項由一支，包括美國卡內基科學研究所Jaehan Bae之國際團隊，發表於《科學》期刊的新研究能解釋，行星相距很遠，且不在與其主恆星赤道中心之相同平面上，繞軌運行的多恆星系結構。

"In our Solar System, the eight planets and many other minor objects orbit in a flat plane around the Sun; but in some distant systems, planets orbit on an incline -- sometimes a very steep one," Bae explained. "Understanding the origins of extremely oblique orbital angles such as these could help reveal details about the planetary formation process."

Bae解釋：「在咱們太陽系中，八顆行星及諸多其他較小天體，在圍繞太陽的一個平面上，繞軌運行。不過，在某些遙遠系中，諸多行星在一種傾斜、有時候非常陡的面上，繞軌運行。瞭解諸如上述極度傾斜之軌道角度的起源，可能有助於揭露，有關行星形成過程的詳情。」

Stars are born in nurseries of gas and dust called molecular clouds -- often forming in small groups of two or three. These young stars are surrounded by rotating disks of leftover material, which accretes to form baby planets. The disk's structure will determine the distribution of the planets that form from it, but much about this process remains unknown.

恆星誕生於，被稱為分子雲之氣體及塵埃的蘊育場中，通常以二或三小群形成。這些年幼恆星，被合生形成小行星之殘餘物質的旋轉盤(行星盤)所圍繞。此種旋轉盤的結構能決定，由其形成之行星的分佈。不過，很多有關此過程的詳情，仍然不詳。

Led by University of Exeter's Stefan Kraus, the team found the first direct evidence confirming the theoretical prediction that gravitational interactions between the members of multi-star systems can warp or break their disks, resulting in misaligned rings surrounding the stellar hosts.

該由英國埃克塞特大學，Stefan Kraus領導的團隊發現了，證實多恆星系成員之間，重力交互作用會扭曲或破壞其旋轉盤，而導致圍繞這些主恆星之環，方向偏離之理論預測的首度直接證據。

Over a period of 11 years, the researchers made observations of the the GW Orionis triple-star system, located just over 1,300 light-years away in the Orion constellation. Their work was accomplished using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array -- a radio telescope made up of 66 antennas.

在過去11年間，此些研究人員進行了多次，座落於獵戶星座中，1300多光年外之三恆星系GW Orionis的觀測。他們的研究是使用歐洲南方天文台的超大望遠鏡，及位於智利阿塔卡馬大型毫米/次毫米陣列(由66個天線組成的射電望遠鏡)達成的。

圖1. GW Orionis(具有特殊內部區域的三恆星系)的新觀測  (圖援用自原文)

"Our images reveal an extreme case where the disk is not flat at all, but is warped and has a misaligned ring that has broken away from the disk," Kraus said.

Their findings were tested by simulations, which demonstrated that the observed disorder in the orbits of the three stars could have caused the disk to fracture into the distinct rings.

Kraus宣稱：「他們的影像揭露，上述旋轉盤全然不平坦，而是被扭曲且具有已經脫離此旋轉盤的一種極端狀況。他們的此些研究發現，經過了諸多證實，在上述三顆恆星軌道上，被觀測到之無秩序的模擬，驗證了可能曾導致此旋轉盤破裂成諸多明顯的環。」

"We predict that many planets on oblique, wide-separation orbits will be discovered in future planet imaging campaigns," said co-author Alexander Kreplin, also of the University of Exeter.

亦屬埃克塞特大學的合撰人，Alexander Kreplin宣稱：「他們預測，在未來的行星造影活動中，將發現諸多在傾斜、大間隔之軌道上的行星。」

Bae concluded: "This system is a great example of how theory and observing can inform each other. I'm excited to see what we learn about this system and others like it with additional study."

Bae斷言：「此恆星系是一種理論與觀測，如何能相互提供資訊之引人注目的例子。以另外的研究確認了，我們有關此恆星系及其他類似其之恆星系，所得悉的事，我是振奮的。」

原文網址：https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200903145028.htm

翻譯：許東榮