Two Suns planet discovered

[paf]

Two Suns planet discovered

Hey guys

It seems the Planet of "Star Wars" was finally found . Will they find the "Force" also?

Tatooine-like planet discovered
Thursday, September 15, 2011

A planet with two suns may be a familiar sight to fans of the Star Wars film series, but not, until now, to scientists. A team of researchers, including Carnegie’s Alan Boss, has discovered a planet that orbits around a pair of stars. Their remarkable findings will be published Sept. 16 in Science.

This is the first instance of astronomers finding direct evidence of a so-called circumbinary planet. A few other planets have been suspected of orbiting around both members of a dual-star system, but the transits of the circumbinary planet have never been detected previously.

(...)

Their work indicates that the planet is less massive than Jupiter, possibly comparable in mass to Saturn, and that the larger of the two binary stars is smaller than our Sun.

“This discovery is stunning,” Boss said. “Once again, what used to be science fiction has turned into reality.”

Source: here


More reading here:

NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers a World Orbiting Two Stars
09.15.11

NASA's Kepler mission has discovered a world where two suns set over the horizon instead of just one. The planet, called Kepler-16b, is the most "Tatooine-like" planet yet found in our galaxy. Tatooine is the name of Luke Skywalker's home world in the science fiction movie Star Wars. In this case, the planet it not thought to be habitable. It is a cold world, with a gaseous surface, but like Tatooine, it circles two stars.


The existence of a world with a double sunset, as portrayed in the film Star Wars more than 30 years ago, is now scientific fact. NASA's Kepler mission has made the first unambiguous detection of a circumbinary planet -- a planet orbiting two stars -- 200 light-years from Earth.

Unlike Star Wars’ Tatooine, the planet is cold, gaseous and not thought to harbor life, but its discovery demonstrates the diversity of planets in our galaxy. Previous research has hinted at the existence of circumbinary planets, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Kepler detected such a planet, known as Kepler-16b, by observing transits, where the brightness of a parent star dims from the planet crossing in front of it.

"This discovery confirms a new class of planetary systems that could harbor life," Kepler principal investigator William Borucki said. "Given that most stars in our galaxy are part of a binary system, this means the opportunities for life are much broader than if planets form only around single stars. This milestone discovery confirms a theory that scientists have had for decades but could not prove until now."

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"Working in film, we often are tasked with creating something never before seen," said visual effects supervisor John Knoll of Industrial Light & Magic, a division of Lucasfilm Ltd., in San Francisco. "However, more often than not, scientific discoveries prove to be more spectacular than anything we dare imagine. There is no doubt these discoveries influence and inspire storytellers. Their very existence serves as cause to dream bigger and open our minds to new possibilities beyond what we think we 'know.'"

[Student26]

I was going to post this, saw it on bbc and cbc. Some pretty coll science news in the last few days. A New Hope immediately came to mind. Too bad I does not support any know life.

On a star wars note looking forward to seeing chewy in the clone wars tv series.

[Bearcat]

Thanks for posting this Paf! I did read about it before and think it is truly fascinating. Its such a immense universe out there and the possiblilities are endless.

[BigGuy]

Thank you Paf. Studying about space is one of my favorite subjects at school.

[Bearcat]

Thank you Paf. Studying about space is one of my favorite subjects at school.

Yeah, it was one of my favorite subjects too. Unlike English class.

[Student26]

Yeah, it was one of my favorite subjects too. Unlike English class.

I cannot wait for my astronomy class next semester. One of the few good things about taking school in the countryside (or as the geo teacher would say rural idyll).

[Bearcat]

I cannot wait for my astronomy class next semester. One of the few good things about taking school in the countryside (or as the geo teacher would say rural idyll).

Sounds great! I live out in a remote rural area, where there isn't much light pollution and on a clear night, I get a rather nice view the stars. Now, if I could only afford a "good" telescope...

[hellnoire]

I had a $30 telescope back in the day that was good enough to see the moon at a decent specs. But it broke, and I've never replaced it.

Love reading about outer space, and will be getting a good one when I move out. Until then, no rush.

[Bearcat]

I had a $30 telescope back in the day that was good enough to see the moon at a decent specs. But it broke, and I've never replaced it.

Love reading about outer space, and will be getting a good one when I move out. Until then, no rush.

The telescope I would love to have would probably cost me a few million dollars.

[solin]

will be getting a good one when I move out. Until then, no rush.

You are dreaming.. Even if it could, not in our time. It was very cold, no life there. And also very distant, it is 200 light-years. While one light year = 10 trillion kilometers. You can imagine..