Tatooine-like World Discovered

[Wanderlust]

This artist's concept illustrates Kepler-16b, the first planet known to definitively orbit two stars -- a real-life Tatooine, from 'Star Wars.' The planet, which can be seen in the foreground, was discovered by NASA's Kepler mission.

A break in the Earthlike planet discoveries. Now we have a Tatooinelike world!

Kepler-16 ABc travels on a nearly circular 229-day orbit around its two parent stars, Kepler-16A and Kepler-16B, which are about 69 and 20 percent as massive as the sun, respectively. The stars keep close to each other — only a fifth of the distance between Earth and the sun on average, which is closer than Mercury gets to the sun — completing an orbit around each other every 41 days. The motions of all three bodies are confined to within 0.5° of a single plane, suggesting that the planet formed within a circumbinary disk. The system is 200 light years from Earth [thats close for a Kepler discovery!]

I know this got mentioned in the other thread but i feel it deserves its own.

 

[YellowSubmarine]

Please, call me when discover Kepler-16c. I'm catching the first transport ship and moving there.

 

[Wanderlust]

Diagram of the system

 

[scotthm]

Kepler-16 ABc travels on a nearly circular 229-day orbit around its two parent stars, Kepler-16A and Kepler-16B, which are about 69 and 20 percent as massive as the sun, respectively.

It would be very interesting to know what type of seasons such a planet would have. Not only would you have (presumably) four seasons due to axial tilt, but there may also be "seasons" due to the smaller stars orbit.

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[Wanderlust]

Video of the system

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE1e9ihO_uc

 

[YellowSubmarine]

So the only involvement of Lucasfilm was to license the footage from A New Hope? Figures.

Also I misunderstood the original data, I thought the stars were brighter than the Sun together, this video would seem the imply the opposite. Nice.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

So why does Kepler-16A have little squirrel ears?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

^ flares?

 

[Wanderlust]

So why does Kepler-16A have little squirrel ears?

That's his hipster style.

These youngins..

[star is a few billion younger than us]

 

[Robert D. Robot]

^ flares?

I did assume that they were flares (I even see a third, fainter loop at near the eleven o'clock position...), but after doing a few T-shirt designs and such, I am conscious of how some individuals can see faces, etc. (like seeing horsies in clouds) in artwork and other images. I suppose if one of the three flares was rotated to a position towards the lower part of the star someone would undoubtedly would have seen it as a nose!

 

[Deckerd]

That star would have to be an awful lot dimmer than the sun to be able to see flares.

 

[Wanderlust]

That star would have to be an awful lot dimmer than the sun to be able to see flares.

Unless you have proper filters over your eyes.

 

[Deckerd]

Ah yes I was forgetting the filter people.

 

[Robert D. Robot]

I am assuming that the artist may have taken some liberties in creating the illustration in order to present the star in the best possible light.....

.... Scotty may not be able to change the laws of physics, but an artist can!

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

^ flares?

Prominences

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Thanks.

 

[CaptainStoner]

We will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

 

[Trekker4747]

It seems less "Tatooine-like world" and more "Tatooine-like system.... sort of."

Since the planet itself is larger than Earth, a gas giant, outside of the system's habitable zone and likely to be cold.

So, yeah "Tatooine-like world" no so much.

A planet that's orbiting two stars, something that wasn't known to be possible? Great and cool discovery.

But the Star Wars connection is irrelevant.

 

[Dream]

the Star Wars connection is irrelevant.

Don't be so nitpicky. Many scientists are calling it Tatooine because it is a quick way to describle it to the general public. Lucas made the idea of a planet with two suns popular with fans in ANH. It is always cool when Sci Fi stories show things first before it is proven or discovered by scientist.

 

[scotthm]

Many scientists are calling it Tatooine because it is a quick way to describle it to the general public. Lucas made the idea of a planet with two suns popular with fans in ANH.

Actually, the movie that became popular was called "Star Wars", and "Tatooine-like world" immediately suggested to me a desert planet, not a world with twin suns.

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