THE WORLD THIS WEEK : Planet with three suns

CAPE CANAVERAL: Astronomers have detected a planet outside our solar system with not one, but three suns, a finding that challenges astronomers’ theories of planetary formation. The planet, a gas giant slightly larger than Jupiter, orbits the main star of a triple-star system known as HD 188753 in the constellation Cygnus (‘The Swan’). The stellar trio and its planet are about 149 light-years from Earth and about as close to each other as our sun is to Saturn, US scientists reported. From the planet’s surface, you’d see three suns in sky, though its orbit centres the main yellow star among the trio. — Reuters