Kepler-34, Kepler-35, Kepler-38, Kepler-64 and Kepler-413 – multiple star systems between 2,764 and 5,933 light-years away in the constellations Lyra and Cygnus – support a permanent habitable zone, a region around the stars in which liquid water could persist on the surface of any as yet undiscovered earth-like planets, according to a paper published in the journal Frontiers in astronomy and space sciences. Of these systems, the Kepler-64 is known to have at least four stars orbiting each other in its center, while the others have two stars; it is known that they all have at least one giant planet the size of Neptune or larger.
This artist’s concept shows a hypothetical aquaplanet around the binary stellar system of Kepler-35. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
“Life is more likely to evolve on planets in the habitable zone of their system, just like Earth,” said Dr. Nikolaos Georgakarakos, an astronomer in the Science Division at New York University Abu Dhabi.
“Here we investigate whether there is a habitable zone in nine known systems with two or more stars orbiting giant planets.”
“We have known for some time that binary star systems without huge planets have the potential to house habitable worlds,” added Professor Ian Dobbs-Dixon, also of New York University in Abu Dhabi.
“What I’ve shown here is that in much of these systems, Earth-like planets can remain habitable even in the presence of giant planets.”
In the paper, astronomers investigated the effects of stellar binary and giant circumbinar planets on habitable areas in nine systems: Kepler-16, Kepler-34, Kepler-35, Kepler-38, Kepler-64, Kepler-413, Kepler-453, Kepler -1647 and Kepler-1661.
Previous studies have confirmed that Kepler-16 and Kepler-1647 are not suitable for hosting a terrestrial planet in their classical habitable zone.
In contrast, Kepler-34, Kepler-35, Kepler-38, Kepler-64 and Kepler-413 seemed more promising, with Kepler-38 being the best candidate. Their habitable zones are between 0.4-1.5 AU (astronomical units) wide starting at distances between 0.6-2 AU from the center of mass of binary stars.
Kepler-453 and Kepler-1661 are located between the two previous categories of systems.
“Our best candidate for hosting a potentially habitable world is the Kepler-38 binary system, about 3,970 light-years from Earth and known to contain a planet the size of Neptune,” said Dr. Georgakarakos. .
“Our study confirms that even binary star systems with giant planets are hot targets in search of Earth 2.0. Watch out for Tatooine, we’re coming! ”
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Nikolaos Georgakarakos et al. Circumbar habitable areas in the presence of a huge planet. Face. Astron. Space Science, published online April 15, 2021; doi: 10.3389 / fspas.2021.640830