A new study, which shows that a planet orbiting around two suns could exist in the habitable zone on permanent orbits of world-size, was conducted in the 70 Ophiuchi (70 Oph AB) binary star system, located 16 light-years away. The study also revealed that no Jupiter-mass giant planets exist 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 world-size planet 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 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, a gas giant with the mass of Jupiter, within five astronomical units (AU) of the primary star—an astronomical distance equivalent to the distance of Jupiter in our own solar system. This is interesting because in 1855, English astronomer William Jacob claimed that 70 Oph AB had a planet, making it the first exoplanet candidate host; University of Michigan (U-M) researchers note. Jacob’s claim did not stand up to scrutiny, but later measurements showed a “wobble” that could be explained by a planet the size of Jupiter.

“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.”


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