Strange Exoplanet's 'Backwards' Orbit Explained by Extra Star,
Planet  Strange Exoplanet's 'Backwards' Orbit Explained by Extra
Star, Planet  View gallery  This planet's odd orbit can be
explained by a series of gravitational dominoes that make the
planet orbit …  A perplexing alien planet locked in a
"backwards" orbit around its parent star may finally be
explained by the discovery of an extra planet and star near the
oddball planetary system, scientists say.  The discovery is
centered on the so-called "backwards" planet HAT-P-7b, which
orbits a star 1,040 light-years from Earth in the constellation
Cygnus. The planet, first spotted in 2008, has long defied
explanation because of its orbit, which carries the world around
its parent star in the opposite (or retrograde) direction of the
star's spin.  Now, a Japan-led team of astronomers has found a
second star and alien planet near the planet HAT-P-7b and its
stellar parent. They used the Subaru Telescope Facility in Hilo,
Hawaii, to make the discovery. Long-t