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When Stars Play Planetary Pinball
Artist's conception of a binary star sunset as seen from the exoplanet Kepler-16b. For some planets, such views may be only temporary. Credit: NASA/Ames Research Center/Kepler Mission
Many of us remember playing pinball at the local arcade while growing up; it turns out that some stars like it as well. Binary stars can play tug-of-war with an unfortunate planet, flinging it into a wide orbit that allows it to be captured by first one star and then the other, in effect “bouncing” it between them before it is eventually flung out into deep space.
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Read the rest of When Stars Play Planetary Pinball (332 words)
© Paul Scott Anderson for Universe Today, 2012. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: binary stars, exoplanets
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