Potentially Habitable Planet Discovered in Binary System
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55 Cancri System as viewed from above.
Many scientists consider discovering an Earth-Like planet in orbit around a star other than our own the “Holy Grail” of Exoplanet studies. Claims have been made of “Super-Earth” planets, and the phrase “potentially habitable” gets thrown around quite often.
In many cases, additional scrutiny ends up providing deal-breakers such as tidally locked planets, wildly eccentric orbits, or even in some cases, the data ends up disproving the existence of the planet at all!
According to KFC at The Physics arXiv:
The top candidates so far are these:
In a paper dated July 11th, Kaspar von Braun, Tabetha S. Boyajian, et al announced their findings on 55 Cancri f, which is one of five planets detected so far in the 55 Cancri system. Located in the constellation of Cancer, the system is roughly 40 light years away from Earth.
Based on the team’s findings von Braun asserts that 55 Cancri f is a genuine candidate to support liquid water, despite the planet’s elliptical orbit. The planet’s elliptical orbit does take the planet outside the “habitable zone” for it’s host star, but only for about 1/4 of it’s orbit. von Braun and his team claim that with moderate greenhouse gas (CO2, etc.)in the planet’s atmosphere, the planet could sustain liquid water year-round.
The possibility of having a relatively thick atmosphere is bolstered by the planet’s mass, which is comparable to Neptune ( Less than 20 Earth masses ). An interesting side note is that in addition to it’s orange dwarf star, the 55 Cancri system has a red dwarf companion orbiting at a distance of around 1000 AU. While a red dwarf at 1000 AU wouldn’t be particularly bright in the sky, it does make 55 Cancri f a planet in a binary star system.
What sunset may look like on a habitable planet in a binary star system.
Source(s):
The 55 Cancri System: Fundamental Stellar Parameters, Habitable Zone Planet, and Super-Earth Diameter , Physics arXiv Blog
Ray Sanders is a Sci-Fi geek, astronomer and blogger. Currently researching variable stars at Arizona State University, he writes for Universe Today, The Planetary Society blog, and his own blog, Dear Astronomer
2012-12-04 08:06:23
Source: http://www.dearastronomer.com/2011/07/18/habitable-super-earth-discovered-in-binary-system/
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