•A new study, which shows that a planet orbiting around two suns could exist in the habitable zone on permanent orbits, has been conducted in the 70 Ophiuchi (70 Oph AB) binary star system, located 16 light-years away. The study also revealed 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. However, 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, which is five astronomical units (AU) away from the primary star—about the distance of a gas giant the size of Jupiter in our own solar system. This is interesting because in 1855, English 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 failed scrutiny, but later measurements revealed a “wobble” that could be explained by a Jupiter-sized planet.
“În general, rezultatele noastre arată că 70 de sisteme Oph, cu o stea primară, pot avea planete pe orbite de tip S – inclusiv planete cu suprafață solidă care pot fi în zona de viabilitate. Dacă sistemele binare cu stele similare Soarelui pot avea planete, 70 Oph este unul dintre cele mai bune locuri de căutat.”
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