Artist’s animation of the TOI-178 orbits and resonances (sound on!)

February 3rd, 2021

This animation shows a representation of the orbits and movements of the planets in the TOI-178 system. The system boasts six exoplanets and all but the one closest to the star are in resonance. This means that there are patterns that repeat themselves rhythmically as the planets go around the star, with some planets aligning every few orbits. In this artist’s animation, the rhythmic movement of the planets around the central star is represented through a musical harmony, created by attributing a note (in the pentatonic scale) to each of the planets in the resonance chain. This note plays when a planet completes either one full orbit or one half orbit; when planets align at these points in their orbits, they ring in resonance. More info: unibe.ch - CHEOPS finds unique planetary system