•A new study, which shows that a planet the size of Earth could exist in stable orbits around two suns, has been conducted in the 70 Ophiuchi (70 Oph AB) binary star system, 16 light-years away. The study also shows that there are no Jupiter-mass giant planets in this system. Stephen Kane, an astrophysicist at the University of California, Riverside (UCR), said, “You might think that the second star would come in like a wrecking ball and make it impossible for a planet the size of Earth to exist in the habitable zone. But these simulations show that this is not necessarily the case.”
The second successful method for finding planets, the RV method, is responsible for the discovery of more than 1,200 exoplanets. This method measures tiny variations in a star’s speed caused by the gravitational pull of another celestial body—whether it’s a planet, a stellar companion, or something else. As the star approaches Earth, it shifts slightly toward blue, then toward red as it moves away. Researchers have achieved a sensitivity of less than a meter for this measurement.
Researchers also ruled out the presence of giant exoplanets larger than Jupiter, which is five astronomical units (AU) away from the primary star—about the distance of Jupiter in our own solar system. This is interesting because in 1855, British astronomer William Jacob claimed to have discovered a planet in 70 Oph AB, making it the first exoplanet candidate host; University of Michigan (U-M) researchers note. Jacob’s claim did not stand the scrutiny, but later measurements showed a “wobble” that could be explained by a Jupiter-sized planet.
“النتائج العامة التي توصلنا إليها تشير إلى أن الكواكب الموجودة في مدارات من نوع S حول النجم الرئيسي في 70 Oph -بما في ذلك المنطقة القابلة للحياة-يمكن أن تحتفظ بالكيانات الصلبة. إذا كان نظام النجوم الثنائي قادرًا على احتضان كواكب شبيهة بالشمس، فإن 70 Oph هو أحد أفضل الأماكن التي يمكن النظر إليها.”
The research was published in a journal.
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