Astronomers find six planets orbiting in resonance

Jupiter has four stable resonant satellites on the order of 1% of Earth's mass within an orbital radius of 1% of Earth's orbit. It's plausible by that example.

I think the proximity is what caused the orbit resonances.

So your intuition that they should affect each other is correct, but the end result less catastrophic.

Of course, we don't know how many sibling planets crashed into their sun earlier...

> Yet it's actually one of the most peaceful, gentle systems we've ever found

You shouldn't assume that. With so much synchronicity I have to wonder if it creates any forces that would result in things like wildly high tides if a planet had any water on it, or increased quakes or some other phenomena caused by the alignments. It could be far from peaceful.

Shameless plug, but if you're into astronomical scales you might like this little visualization tool I've built recently!

https://github.com/pedrosbmartins/downtoearth

Reading now, thank you.

The prospect of analyzing aggregate human behavior with recourse to models from physical science immediately put me in mind of the "Chemical Analogue Theory of the Body Politic," as espoused by one of the characters at a dinner party, in Bruce Sterling's _The Artificial Kid_:

--

“The Chemical Analogue Theory is, of course, an analogy,” said Manies. He touched a stud on the heavy bracelet on his right wrist and in rushed his secretary Chalkwhistle, a neuter. Manies took pencil and slate from the neuter and began sketching as he talked. “As you are well aware, dear Saint Anne, the human body is an immensely complex system, in fact an ecosystem with its own flora and fauna. The same is true of the Body Politic, our human society. Their reactions, their structures are very similar. Now, the history of the human body is the history of its organic macromolecules, its linkages (pardon me) of separate atoms. Similarly, the history of the Body Politic is the history of many small groups and coteries, linked groups of friends. Of course, I would not go so far as to equate a single personality with a single atom. In most cases people would be better considered as small molecules; acids, bases, salts, et cetera. I often consider them atoms for simplicity’s sake, however.

  “Note that the effect of a single atom in the human body is almost negligible; but if that atom is included in the right molecule, its influence may be crucial! It does not matter which particular atom enters a molecule, you understand; the important thing is that it be the correct kind of atom, and attached in the correct molecular framework! It is the framework that counts, you see, just as the important thing is the relationships within groups of friends, rather than the friends themselves. Of course some atoms are comparatively rare, just as some personality types are comparatively rare, and they can exert a disproportionate influence; but it is the linkages that count.

  “I regard myself as an enzyme, constantly endeavoring to link molecular groups into newer and more potent configurations. This breakfast is just such an attempt.”

Cool and unsurprising, from the guy who came up with the Clarke Orbit, specifying where geostationary satellites should go.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geostationary_orbit

> Is this relevant to the Fermi paradox? If 1% of observed systems are estimated to still be in resonance, that means that 99% are not and have had some kind of significant event to knock them out of resonance.

The planets in our Solar System don't exhibit this type of resonance (some of their moons do), and we are here, so 'no'

These planets all have very short orbital periods, between 9 and 55 days. By Kepler’s third law (p^2 ~ a^3), we know that these planets are all very close to their star. Much closer than Mercury is to the Sun (p ~ 116 days). Their close proximity leads to gravitational interactions when they pass by one another. This gradually leads to a very stable orbital resonance due to constructive interference.

As I recall it (not having payed close attention), it got a lot of attention because a lot of planets were discovered around that star, but I don't remember hearing or reading about them being in resonance.

Except that reciting pi is evidence of life and this system isn't.