Many planets may have double suns

BBC ^ | Thursday, March 29, 2007

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

This is kind of unsurprising since a lot of star systems are binary, or multiple star star systems. Though it could make planetary evolution more difficult.

Then again, if there were no planetary evolution......

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

If you're wondering, yes, this was posted because it had a Star Wars picture--along with being interesting in and of itself.

Linked pictures:

"A still from Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. After discussing his future plans with his Uncle Owen, Luke Skywalker leaves the Lars Homestead and heads towards the vista to watch the twin suns of Tatooine set while he reflects upon his destiny. © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved."

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Two suns? Does that mean I tan twice as fast then?

[John123]

Two suns? Does that mean I tan twice as fast then?

Forget the tan... think about all those alien global warming crackpots!

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

ping.

[KevinDavis]

Better get SPF 9000....

[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Hey. How come the quote moved over? It should be aligned vertically with the picture above it.

[jmcenanly]

Unfortunately, the star system closest to our own, Alpha centauri, is a binary system where the stars orbit each other in 80 years with a mean separation of 23 astronomical units (1 astronomical unit = 1 AU = distance between the Sun and Earth). this puts them squarely in the area where no discs were observed.

[Central Scrutiniser]

We got more than that here in PHX.

[Moonman62]

The real story here is that Star Wars is 30 years old.

[Young Werther]

Juptiter failed becoming a second Sun for our Solar System.

Of course many heavenly bodies have two globes! It doesn't take a rocket scientist and shame on NASA for wasting research dollars on so obvious a fact!

[scrabblehack]

All you scientists out there -- for the medium distance binaries -- would it be possible for a planet to go around in a figure 8?

[AntiKev]

I would say it's possible, but not likely. Think of the free-return trajectory that Apollo used for the Moon landings. It is probably near impossible, because the star would naturally want to orbit one or both, elliptical orbits (or nearly-circular elliptical orbits) are the most common. It would take an extraordinary set of circumstances for a planet to enter into that sort of trajectory around two stars. That being said, anything's possible.

[dighton]

The world is so full of a number of things,
I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.

[Lancey Howard]

LOL, funny thread title. Kinda backwards....

[SunkenCiv]

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HD3651 A and B

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[SunkenCiv]

related:

Double sun sunset no longer science fiction
Science, Engineering & Technology News | January 24, 2007 | Scenta
Posted on 01/24/2007 11:24:07 AM EST by SunkenCiv
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1772892/posts

[dfwgator]

Well your Suns "setted" tonight against Golden State.

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1742444/posts

..."It is a little-known fact that nearly 25 percent of the known extrasolar planets are in binary- or multiple-star systems," said Stephen Kortenkamp...

[SunkenCiv]

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ARTIST'S CONCEPTION of proposed formation process for the multiple-star system L1551 IRS5, as revealed by observations with the Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope. Top panel: large disk-like cloud of gas and dust rotates. Middle panel: two smaller disks of gas and dust fragment from the large disk and begin to condense into protostars, each having its own surrounding disk and shooting "jets" of material outward from the poles of its disk. Bottom panel: A third, smaller disk and protostar joins the sytem, either through the same fragmentation process or by being captured gravitationally by the larger protostars. CREDIT: Bill Saxton, NRAO/AUI/NSF

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