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Astronomers discover 27 potential Tatooine-like planets that orbit two stars

Popular Science·Andrew Paul·28 days ago
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An artist's impression of two circumbinary planets orbiting a binary star system. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. There is a reason the most recognizable planet orbiting two stars is the fictional desert world of Tatooine from Star Wars . So far, astronomers have only located 18 examples of circumbinary planets—a fraction of the over 6,000 exoplanets known to science. However, researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) believe there’s a better way to spot potential dual-sun candidates. To prove it, they just offered up 27 possible circumbinary planets in time for May 4th, aka Star Wars Day. “Most of our current knowledge on planets is biased, based on how we’ve looked for them,” Margo Thornton , a UNSW astronomer, said in a statement .…

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