The iconic scene of Luke Skywalker watching the double sunset on the planet where he was raised, Tatooine, is one of the most indelible images in science fiction. Now, thanks to NASA’s TESS Space Telescope, we believe there are three planets similar to Tatooine within 72 light years of Earth.
A unique system. It’s called TOI-2267 and it challenges what we thought we knew about how planets form. According to research published in Astronomy & Astrophysics, this binary star system hosts three planets similar in size to Earth. But what makes it extraordinary is not that it can have two-sun sunsets, but rather its compact architecture.
Two very close suns. TOI-2267 is formed by two M dwarf stars (M5V and M6V) that orbit very close to each other, at a distance of only 8 astronomical units. To put it in context, in our solar system, Saturn orbits 9.5 astronomical units from the Sun.
Until now, theoretical models suggested that such a close binary environment was too chaotic and gravitationally unstable to allow planets to form and maintain stable orbits. TOI-2267 proves us wrong.
How it works. The analysis of the system, in which the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia had an important participation, reveals that the three planets cannot be orbiting the same star, since the system would be unstable.
The most plausible configuration, and the one that scientists are excited about, is that two of the planets orbit the main star (TOI-2267A), while the third candidate orbits the companion star (TOI-2267B). This makes TOI-2267 the first known binary system to host planets transiting both of its stars.
The next step. After discovering the system with the TESS space telescope and carrying out follow-up observations with the SPECULOOS observatory, from Chile and Tenerife, and the TRAPPIST telescope, the next step will be to use more powerful instruments, such as the James Webb Space Telescope to try to measure the masses, densities and even analyze the possible atmospheres of these worlds.
This system not only proves that Tatooine exists, but that the universe is capable of forming planets in the most extreme and unexpected places we can imagine.
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