Kepler 16b: NASA Discovers 'Star Wars'-Like Planet With Two Suns (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

NASA reported on Thursday the discovery of Kepler 16b, a planet with two suns that evokes images of Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine, from the "Star Wars" franchise.

The planet, which is 200 light years away and roughly the size of Saturn, is the first circumbinary planet -- meaning that it orbits two suns -- ever discovered, according to NASA.

ILLUSTRATION AND ANIMATIONS BELOW

"This discovery confirms a new class of planetary systems that could harbor life," William Borucki, the principal investigator of the Kepler telescope said in a statement. "Given that most stars in our galaxy are part of a binary system, this means the opportunities for life are much broader than if planets form only around single stars. This milestone discovery confirms a theory that scientists have had for decades but could not prove until now."

Kepler 16b was discovered by the Kepler space vehicle, a satellite telescope that searches for habitable planets. Scientists, however, do not believe that life exists on the planet. The temperatures are about minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Researchers say that Kepler 16b is composed of roughly half rock and half gas. The suns that the planet orbits are smaller -- and cooler -- than Earth's sun; one of the stars is about 69% the mass of the sun and the other is about 20%. According to The New York Times, one of the stars is orange, and the other is red, and the planet orbits both stars every 229 days.

The research will be published on Friday in the journal Science.

In a HuffPost blog post published on Thursday, Dr. Laurance Doyle, an astrophysicist at the SETI Institute and the lead author of the paper, referenced Star Wars: "But today science fiction has become science fact, and that galaxy far, far away has become our own galaxy. A whole new kind of planetary system has been shown to exist and -- like Luke in the story -- the adventure is just getting started."

LOOK: An artist's illustration of Kepler 16b:

WATCH: Three Eclipsing Bodies: Animation of Kepler 16b orbiting its two suns:

WATCH: A Dance of Two Suns and One Planet: Animation of the orbital pattern of the stars:

Comments

[MichaelMcKLA]

09:13 PM on 09/18/2011

I would like to see an animation of what a planet's orbit would be like if it were located between the suns in a binary star system.

[Kathy Wedzik]

01:05 PM on 09/17/2011

laughing my AO....

[Twopforum]

06:10 AM on 09/17/2011

It's great that we can find planets like Kepler 16b. What is more important is that we find planets we can live on; and also that we find ways to get people there. It is important that we find new places to live and new sources of food, fuel and raw materials. It is impossible for us to continue our fool's dream of surviving indefinitely with limited supplies that will continue to dwindle - there will always be waste - with an ever-increasing human population.

[RedDogBear]

11:26 AM on 09/17/2011

Nonsense. The nearest habitable world will almost certainly be hundreds of light years or more away. That means even if we had the most sophisticated technology in theory it would take us centuries for a round trip. Now note: we have nothing that can get even close to the speed of light right now. But regardless of any tech breakthroughs the absolute most we could get by any theory we now know is some percentage (80-90%) of the speed of light.

So the idea that we are going to all be able to relocate to some other planet is just fantasy. And it distracts us from what we really need to do: find alternative clean energy sources, limit population growth, and stop destroying this planet because its really the only one we've got.

[Twopforum]

12:50 PM on 09/17/2011

I'd love to know what a 'clean' energy source is meant to be. And as for limiting population growth ... 'fantasy', I believe the word was?

We need to get off this planet and onto others. We need to find some way to continue expanding, because that is what we do. The idea that we can recycle everything we use, including energy, is self-evidently ludicrous.

[Doug Girard]

01:56 PM on 09/17/2011

Im wondering how old you are.
Technology has advanced at a record pace. Take someone who was born 50 years ago, and had the same attitude you have of 'wont' 'cant' 'impossible' 'never happen' and 'nonsense' and place them in todays society. First, they probably would think they just got put in a (as the term you use) 'fantasy' world. HDTVs?? Portable phones?? Tablet computers?? (any kind of personal computer) Robots?? ATMs?? Electric vehicles?? GPS?? Satellites launched almost every day?? Space shuttles and similar space vehicles?? Manned international space station?? They would be overwhelmed beacause they would be seeing things that were being thought as as 'impossible' or 'fantasy.'
Since your mind seems mired in the past, you might want to catch yourself up to speed and see why many of yesteryears 'theories', especially about space, time, and relativity are being revised and in some cases being disallowed and totally re-written.
Scientific American has many good articles as well as The American Scientific Journal, which you can ffind each monthly issue at your local universities library. (or online) The Science Channel' has had many new programs lately on why space travel in the near future is totally within our reach, in as little time as the next 50 years. Not light speed, but very close to it.
I could type for a week and you would still probably say 'balderdash' and 'poppycock.'
If you really believe that, you truly live in a box.

[NoSillyName]

02:58 AM on 09/18/2011

So we can rape, pillage and pollute another planet? Why not just stop making new humans?

[Twopforum]

07:24 AM on 09/19/2011

We will never "stop making new humans" - that's why not. It is not that I approve of what you call "rape, pillage and pollute"; it's that I see no practical method by which we ever will limit our reproduction. I also think that any attitude that involves limiting ourselves is a strategy for our eventual decline and extinction. I'm sorry, but if raping, pillaging and polluting other planets is the alternative to extinction, then I'm for it.

[dr-glover]

10:37 PM on 09/16/2011

Here's something for you armchair physicists.... What if gravity is a form of "pressure"? The result of this simple equation ---< infinity + x ) infinity - x >--- think it through... where the")" symbol represents bulge or pressure from the very presence of "x" (matter) added to infinite nothing.

[RedDogBear]

12:41 PM on 09/17/2011

Now who can argue with that? Thank you Gaby Johnson...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke5Mr5eCF2U

[StevieTheK]

12:46 PM on 09/17/2011

lol @ Blazing Saddles (I didn't check the clip, just assumed...)

[BraxtonC]

04:00 PM on 09/17/2011

Hmm, something like this, you mean?

http://www.higgs-boson.org/

It presents an alternative to defining gravity that does not need a Higgs Boson.

[hackitoff]

08:57 PM on 09/16/2011

Half rock, half gas - sounds like our Federal government (and a lot of state governments) and all those running for president in 0'12. (:

[roninroshi]

08:55 AM on 09/17/2011

Perfect analysis of the present situation in DC...f/f

[Allotta Tepes]

06:06 PM on 09/16/2011

That is so cool!

[purplemaize]

05:57 PM on 09/16/2011

When I get video's from Nasa I really enjoy them this one I put on facebook last night when I recieved an update video alert.

[alabama lawyer]

05:21 PM on 09/16/2011

NASA please hurry the repubs have nearly destroyed earth, they will soon be looking for something new to decimate.

[Samla Daniel]

08:08 PM on 09/16/2011

U are right !!!!!!
there are more interesting news in this site:
http://www.thegeekbook.com/category/space

[p8q2b8ng]

10:36 PM on 09/17/2011

I find it strange that someone clicks favorite on a comment like this. Is it just another democrat that is thinking "hey, this guy is also a democrat. Therefore I like him. Being that I like him, I have to click favorite". Silly people.

[NoSillyName]

03:13 AM on 09/18/2011

People usually click "Favorite" for the simple reason that they agree with a comment.

"Silly" or not. I find it strange that you take exception to this practice.

[wmholt]

03:47 PM on 09/16/2011

Actually binary star systems are more common than single star systems like our own solar system. Just thought I'd pass on something I learned from the Science Channel that I thought was interesting.

[Craig Bovia]

04:15 PM on 09/16/2011

Fanned for sharing binary star systems and great looking Kitty

[p8q2b8ng]

10:40 PM on 09/17/2011

That is true. There are triple and more too! Septuble (7) is the most found so far.

[jimboy71]

03:33 PM on 09/16/2011

Such a fascinating universe we live in and what an incredible time to be alive. I hope to live to see the day that we find life on another world.

[Craig Bovia]

04:18 PM on 09/16/2011

Me too. It might be the one thing that can bring US together as Citizens of Our Earth.
Fanned for our fascination

[Dragontech]

12:55 AM on 09/17/2011

I still hope for the day they find intelligent life on THIS planet.
However, I am so glad to see that science is still looking for answers.

[Frank Larkin]

03:27 PM on 09/16/2011

So the emporer didn't destroy the planet he had it moved closer to earth?
But why isn't it warmer there with 2 suns? and how do they know there's no life, there could be "ICE Cubians" living there.

[Brett Feinblatt]

10:17 PM on 09/16/2011

Both stars are much smaller and cooler than the Sun, so even their combined heat wouldn't be enough to equal it.

[dr-glover]

10:26 PM on 09/16/2011

It also depends on the distance from their center of gravity.

[DSteel]

03:14 PM on 09/16/2011

The Kepler program is AWESOME!!!

The information we have gained and continue to gain rivals anything we have learned about our universe to date. "1,235 planet candidates"

http://kepler.nasa.gov/

[Craig Bovia]

04:27 PM on 09/16/2011

I am 68. I have a one year old granddaughter. What an incredible World she is entering. She will never know a World without Google or Skype. Where can we be 68 years from now if only we, Earthlings, begin to share and care about each other as much as we care about ourselves. J K Rowlings, please write that novel.
Fanned for AWESOMENESS

[taoistpunk]

12:56 AM on 09/17/2011

stranger still, grampa, she'll look back at google and skype the way you did at kitty hawk and the model T.

we just had a black out here in southern CA. first time my kids ever experienced their world without power. you could tell from their questions that they had never even considered the possibility.

[RedDogBear]

11:29 AM on 09/17/2011

I hope she'll be able to get a job, have healthcare, and some chance of retirement. The way this country is going I doubt it.

[Hermann Vivier]

02:41 PM on 09/16/2011

This is just the beginning... I have a feeling NASA is about to start releasing all kids of "science fiction" like information... Our galaxy harbours many many mysteries, and we are in for a few surprises! it may be quite scary if you are not open to accept that which you have previously thought of as "impossible"... I for one am convinced that NASA knows a lot more than what they allow the public to see.

[Craig Bovia]

04:36 PM on 09/16/2011

You're probably right. NASA needs at least 3 billion a year to build the Super Rocket that is designed to take US into deep space. They need some pretty good bait to land that fish. LOL

[Scott Zwartz]

07:13 PM on 09/17/2011

Let's follow the Chinese example from 500 years ago and dismantle our Space Fleet .. oh wait, we already did that.

[Dragontech]

01:04 AM on 09/17/2011

"...it may be quite scary if you are not open to accept that which you have previously thought of as "impossibl­e"
At 47 years young, I am amazed at all the "impossible" things I see each year.
For the Trekkies out there, Spock's computer cards, what were they but the now obsolete 3 1/2 inch diskette, a Tablet (iPad) but the electronic clip board Kirk was always signing, a communicator but a flip-phone? Angels and Demons talks about the reality of antimatter, which ran the Enterprise, yet really DOES exist, flat panel monitors all over the ship, now common. networked computers, and for the Next Gen peeps, we are working towards holograms,
How many other science fictions will we live to see come true? How many, like the 3 1/2" diskette will become obsolete early? In 1990, a one gigabyte hard drive was about 3 feet across, now you can buy a micro SD card that will hold 32 gigabytes and is the size of your pinkie nail. We are on the edge of a whole new reality if we have the courage to grab it, and the foresight to pay for it, rather than bury it.

[Doug Girard]

01:05 PM on 09/17/2011

Just a point. We already have working holographic projectors, not as elaborate as a holo-deck mind you, but they exist. And dont forget about vitrual reality glasses and HUDs (heads up display) immersion helmets will become a mainstay consumer item in the next handful of years.

[Doug Girard]

02:03 PM on 09/17/2011

By the way Dragontech. . .I totally agree with you. Its amazing that many of Gene Roddenberrys visions of the future are a reality today. Now we just have to work on his warp-drive. . .lol Just as long as William Shatner doent become captain of the first flight. . .heh heh. . .joke. . . .couldnt resist)

[Samla Daniel]

02:28 PM on 09/16/2011

NASA have discovering many many new planet ...this and that .....I suggest them to invent a kind of Space ship or some other thing to see the living things in that planet ......
Visit http://www.thegeekbook.com

[RagdeSitum]

02:36 PM on 09/16/2011

It would take over 70,000 years to travel to the nearest star at our fastest speeds. Even if we came up with a way to increase our speeds a hundred -fold, it would still take 700 years.

[Samla Daniel]

02:43 PM on 09/16/2011

I truly agree with U........
Visit www.thegeekbook.com

[TFC747]

02:26 PM on 09/16/2011

You know what I don't understand about the orbits of the planets around a star? Please call me an ignoramus. Why are they "flat"? Why are orbits of atoms "flat" Why are galaxies "flat". They all look the same, and I have yet to see depiction of a galaxy with planets all over the place, like Pluto that seems to be in some weird sort of orbit. Why does gravity seem to flatten the orbits? Maybe this is an idiotic question but I'd love to know if there's an answer.

[bwestleyj]

02:34 PM on 09/16/2011

It's not an idiotic question, at all.

It was explained to me this way:

"The orbits of the planets are coplanar (similiar in plane) because during the Solar System's formation, the planets formed out of a disk of dust which surrounded the Sun. Because that disk of dust was a disk, all in a plane, all of the planets formed in a plane as well."

[Craig Bovia]

04:51 PM on 09/16/2011

Fanned for great sharing. So it has nothing to do with our perception?

[Imago1122]

07:58 AM on 09/17/2011

Thanks for sharing this information. I too would like to ask you a question, please.

It says that this planet orbits the sun in 229 days. Would these be "Earth days"? Probably not, right?

In addition, supposing there was a star with a bunch of habitable planets orbiting it. What would be the concept of time on this star system? Would this mean that one planet could conceivably be a year or two ahead of another? Wouldn't things then be really out of whack on this "world"? Or is it possible that the planets, asteroids etc would all operate under a similar manmade "time umbrella" to facilitate organization?

Perhaps strange questions, but if you could help me clarify this---rather than talking to some physics prof---I'd really appreciate it. Thanks again.

[RagdeSitum]

02:40 PM on 09/16/2011

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2d7joOgVLg

[TFC747]

02:47 PM on 09/16/2011

Thank you.

[Craig Bovia]

04:59 PM on 09/16/2011

Thank You RagdeSitum. That was excellent. So it is true. We don't know for sure. Finding out is exhilarating!!
Fanned for Sharing