Planets with two stars, like the fictional Tatooine from the movie Star Wars, do exist. There are far more of them than previously thought. Astronomers have discovered 27 new candidates, nearly doubling the known number.
A new search method
Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) took a different approach from the traditional one. Planets are usually detected through transits—a slight dimming of a star when a celestial body passes between it and the observer. But such a coincidence is rare, so most systems simply fall out of sight.
Instead, the team monitored the so-called apsidal precession—a barely perceptible “wobble” in the mutual eclipses of binary stars. If the exact timing of these eclipses shifts, this may indicate the influence of a third body in the system.
What was found
After analyzing 1,590 binary star systems using data from NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) telescope, scientists identified 36 systems exhibiting unusual behavior that cannot be explained solely by the mutual gravitational pull of the two stars. In 27 of them, the mass of the third body falls within the planetary range—from the size of Neptune to objects ten times more massive than Jupiter. The distances to the candidates range from 650 to 18,000 light-years from Earth.
The discovery has not yet been definitively confirmed. To determine whether these objects are actually planets, rather than brown dwarfs or low-mass stars, we need to analyze their spectra—the characteristics of the light they emit. “It’s a question of mass: is it a planet, a brown dwarf, or a star?” said the study’s lead author, graduate student Margo Thornton.
Extreme conditions
According to astrophysicist Sara Webb of Swinburne University of Technology, who was not involved in the study, such planets likely have an extremely unusual environment. At the same time, according to her, there is theoretically a “gold zone” between the two stars where conditions may be suitable for liquid water on the surface.
According to Webb, when the first Star Wars movie was released, humanity was not yet aware of the existence of any planets beyond the Solar System—let alone one with two suns. The study was published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society—symbolically, on May 4, the unofficial “Star Wars Day,” which fans of the saga celebrate with a play on the iconic phrase “May the Force be with you.”
According to theguardian.com
