Unexpectedly well-organized planetary systems

Planetary systems orbiting other stars have been found to be more organised than our planetary system.

In fact, the way that they are arranged means that astronomers can use an old law to predict where new discoveries will be made.

More than 200 years ago it was found that the distances between the planets of our Solar System could be approximately described by a mathematical relation now known as ‘Bode's Law’.

Since the law was not fully understood, many modern astronomers think ‘Bode's Law’ is a meaningless coincidence.

However, ANU astronomers have applied it to new data from NASA's Kepler satellite and found that planets orbiting other stars obey this law even more closely than the planets of our Solar System.