Kepler-16b: New Planet with 2 Suns (NASA Video)

by NowPublic Staff | September 16, 2011 at 08:20 am

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Tatooine IRL? New Planet Found by Kepler Spacecraft

Kepler-16b is a newly-discovered planet with two suns. This is not a publicity stunt for the Star Wars Blu Ray release, even though it sounds like Tatooine. The Saturn-like planet was discovered by NASA's Kepler spacecraft.

Kepler-16b orbits binary stars, both of which are smaller than our own Sun. If you were to live on the surface of this new planet (well, newly-discovered planet), you'd see two sunsets... as you dreamed of attending the Academy like all your friends. Then Uncle Owen would call you back in for chores. Sucks to be you, Luke.

Kepler's data suggest that the new planet is a Saturn-like gas giant without a solid surface.

Traveling on a nearly circular, 229-day orbit around both host stars, the planet lies outside the system's habitable zone—the region where liquid water, and thus life as we know it, could exist.

Oh. A gas giant. Like Bespin. Got it.