Distant planet has double sunset.
- 13 years ago
Real life takes a step closer to science fiction.
In a scene reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's home, when the day ends on planet Kepler-16b there is a double sunset.
NASA's Kepler spacecraft detected the distant planet orbiting two waltzing stars.
Binary stars, which are two suns turning around each other, have been seen before.
But it was not known if planets existed around them.
Kepler's observations have confirmed it.
This is an image taken by the Kepler spacecraft showing the planet in orbit near the two stars.
Kepler's mission is to scour the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets in what is called the "habitable zone".
That is, planets not too close and not too far away from the stars they orbit.
Though this cool gas giant is not thought to harbour life.
It's suns are smaller and cooler than our sun which would make Kepler-16b quite cold, scientists say.
It is similar to Jupiter in size and mass, orbiting the two suns every 229 days, at a distance of 65 million miles.
It would be quite a journey to visit, with this newly detected planet 200 light years from Earth.
Marie-Claire Fennessy, Reuters
In a scene reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's home, when the day ends on planet Kepler-16b there is a double sunset.
NASA's Kepler spacecraft detected the distant planet orbiting two waltzing stars.
Binary stars, which are two suns turning around each other, have been seen before.
But it was not known if planets existed around them.
Kepler's observations have confirmed it.
This is an image taken by the Kepler spacecraft showing the planet in orbit near the two stars.
Kepler's mission is to scour the Milky Way galaxy for Earth-like planets in what is called the "habitable zone".
That is, planets not too close and not too far away from the stars they orbit.
Though this cool gas giant is not thought to harbour life.
It's suns are smaller and cooler than our sun which would make Kepler-16b quite cold, scientists say.
It is similar to Jupiter in size and mass, orbiting the two suns every 229 days, at a distance of 65 million miles.
It would be quite a journey to visit, with this newly detected planet 200 light years from Earth.
Marie-Claire Fennessy, Reuters