•A new study, which shows that a planet the size of Earth could exist in stable orbits around two suns, was conducted in the 70 Ophiuchi (70 Oph AB) binary star system, located 16 light-years away. The study also found 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 changes in the speed of a star 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 its light slightly toward blue, then back 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, up to five astronomical units (AU) from the primary star—a distance equivalent to a gas giant five times the mass of Jupiter in our own Solar System. This is interesting because in 1855, the English astronomer William Jacob claimed to have discovered a planet in 70 Oph AB, making it the first candidate exoplanet host; the University of Michigan (U-M) researchers note. Jacob’s claim failed to stand the scrutiny, but later measurements revealed a “wobble” that could be explained by a Jupiter-sized planet.
“In general, our results show that planets in S-type orbits around the primary star of 70 Oph—including those in the habitable zone—could sustain rocky planets. If star binary systems can host solar-like planets, 70 Oph is one of the best places to look.”
The research was published in a journal.
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