EXOPLANETS
What would life be like on a planet around a double -star system?
Tatooine-like planets – planets orbiting around binary stars, also known as circumbinary planets – are no longer just science fiction. The Kepler spacecraft has observed transiting circumbinary planets. Here we focus on circumbinary-type planets that move around the centre of mass of the double-star system in a relatively wide orbit.
The first requirement for survival on a circumbinary planet is that the planet remains dynamically stable. Gravitational perturbations from the binary can destabilise the circumbinary orbit. If this happens then the circumbinary planet is likely ejected from the system, or it could even collide with one of the stars. Both aren’t favourable scenarios for survivability. Secondly, if we agree to need liquid water for survival, and ideally a breathable atmosphere, the circumbinary
