Exoplanets
The following movies are available showing various exoplanet simulations. Image quality is greatly superior when running simulations from within AstroGrav.
- The Exoplanets Orbiting Kepler-90
- The Exoplanets Orbiting TRAPPIST-1
- The Exoplanets Orbiting HR 8799
- The Exoplanets Orbiting Kepler-223
The Exoplanets Orbiting Kepler-90
This is an AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the Kepler-90 planetary system, as described in many media articles in December 2017, and detailed in Wikipedia.
All eight planets have almost circular orbits.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.5 or better to use this simulation.
The Exoplanets Orbiting TRAPPIST-1
An AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the TRAPPIST-1 planetary system, as described in many media articles in February 2017, and detailed in the Open Exoplanet Catalogue.
All seven planets have a similar mass and radius to the Earth, and have almost circular orbits.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.4 or better to use this simulation.
The Exoplanets Orbiting HR 8799
This is an AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the HR 8799 planetary system, as described in many media articles in January 2017, and detailed in the Open Exoplanet Catalogue.
In some ways, this system is rather like a scaled-up version of Jupiter and its Galilean moons. The three inner planets (HR 8799 e, HR 8799 d, and HR 8799 c) have orbital periods in a 1:2:4 ratio, just like the three inner Galilean moons (Io, Europa, and Ganymede). The fourth planet (HR 8799 b) doesn't fit this pattern of period ratios, just like the fourth Galilean moon (Callisto).
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.4 or better to use this simulation.
The Exoplanets Orbiting Kepler-223
This is an AstroGrav video that shows a simulation of the Kepler-223 planetary system, as described in many media articles in May 2016, and detailed in the Open Exoplanet Catalogue.
This is a particularly interesting planetary system, as the planets appear to be locked in resonance. Each time the outermost planet (Kepler-223 e) orbits three times, the next planet inwards (Kepler-223 d) orbits four times, the next planet inwards (Kepler-223 c) orbits six times, and the innermost planet (Kepler-223 b) orbits eight times. All four planets are much larger than the Earth, yet are considerably closer to Kepler-223 than the planet Mercury is to the Sun.
You can download the simulation file itself, run it with AstroGrav, and edit and experiment with it as you wish. You will need AstroGrav 3.4 or better to use this simulation.