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troutman · 09-15-2011, 01:34 PM

elakdawalla elakdawalla

Real-life 'Star Wars' planet found with two suns:

http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...rs-planet-seen

Planet-hunters say they've detected the first world that's absolutely known to circles two stars, like Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine in the fictional "Star Wars" saga.

"Once again, what used to be science fiction has turned into reality," said Carnegie Institution astronomer Alan Boss, a member of the team for NASA's Kepler mission and a co-author of a paper on the discovery in the journal Science.

Both of the two suns are smaller and dimmer than our own sun, and they orbit each other once every 41 days. The Kepler-16b planet is in a nearly circular orbit around both stars. It takes 229 days to make one circuit at a distance of 65 million miles — which is similar to the parameters for Venus' 225-day orbit. Because the twin suns are dimmer, Kepler-16b is colder than Venus, with an estimated surface (or cloud-top) temperature of -100 to -150 degrees Fahrenheit (170 to 200 Kelvin).

09-15-2011, 01:34 PM	#1132
troutman Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Crowsnest Pass Exp:	elakdawalla elakdawalla Real-life 'Star Wars' planet found with two suns: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news...rs-planet-seen Planet-hunters say they've detected the first world that's absolutely known to circles two stars, like Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine in the fictional "Star Wars" saga. "Once again, what used to be science fiction has turned into reality," said Carnegie Institution astronomer Alan Boss, a member of the team for NASA's Kepler mission and a co-author of a paper on the discovery in the journal Science. Both of the two suns are smaller and dimmer than our own sun, and they orbit each other once every 41 days. The Kepler-16b planet is in a nearly circular orbit around both stars. It takes 229 days to make one circuit at a distance of 65 million miles — which is similar to the parameters for Venus' 225-day orbit. Because the twin suns are dimmer, Kepler-16b is colder than Venus, with an estimated surface (or cloud-top) temperature of -100 to -150 degrees Fahrenheit (170 to 200 Kelvin). Last edited by troutman; 09-15-2011 at 01:37 PM.