Kepler-34, Kepler-35, Kepler-38, Kepler-64 and Kepler-413 – multiple galaxies located between 2 764 and 5 933 light-years away in the constellations of Lyra and Cygnus – support a permanently habitable zone, an area around stars in which liquid water on the surface of any undiscovered Earth can remain, according to an article published in the journal Boundaries in Astronomy and Space Sciences. Of these systems, Kepler-64 is known to have at least four stars in its center, while the others have two stars; it is known that everyone has at least one giant planet the size of Neptune or larger.
This artist’s concept shows a hypothetical water planet around the binary galaxy of Kepler-35. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
“Life will most likely evolve on planets located within the habitable zone of their system, just like Earth,” said Dr. Nikolaos Georgakarakos, an astronomer in the Department of Natural Sciences at New York University Abu Dhabi.
“It is being investigated whether a habitable zone exists in nine known systems with two or more stars orbiting giant planets.”
“We have known for some time that binary star systems without giant planets have the potential to house habitable worlds,” added Professor Ian Dobbs-Dixon, also from New York University Abu Dhabi.
“What we have shown here is that terrestrial planets can remain habitable in a large proportion of these systems, even in the presence of giant planets.”
In the work, the astronomers investigated the effects of stellar binary and giant planets on the habitable zones of nine systems: Kepler-16, Kepler-34, Kepler-35, Kepler-38, Kepler-64, Kepler-413, Kepler – 453, Kepler-1647, and Kepler-1661.
They confirmed earlier studies that suggested that Kepler-16 and Kepler-1647 were not suitable for housing an terrestrial planet within their classical habitable zone.
In contrast, Kepler-34, Kepler-35, Kepler-38, Kepler-64 and Kepler-413 looked more promising with Kepler-38 as the best candidate. Their habitable zones are between 0.4-1.5 AU (astronomical units) wide and start at distances between 0.6-2 AU from the center of mass of the binary stars.
Kepler-453 and Kepler-1661 stand between the previous two categories of systems.
“Our best candidate for hosting a world that is potentially habitable is the binary system Kepler-38, about 3,970 light-years from Earth, and which is known to contain a planet from Neptune,” said Dr.
‘Our study confirms that even binary star systems with giant planets are a target in the search for Earth 2.0. Beware Tatooine, we’re coming! ”
_____
Nikolaos Georgakarakos et al. Environmentally habitable zones in the presence of a giant planet. Front. Astron. Space science, published online on April 15, 2021; doi: 10.3389 / fspas.2021.640830