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Link to original content: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22237021
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Transiting circumbinary planets Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b

William F Welsh et al. Nature. .
Free article

Abstract

Most Sun-like stars in the Galaxy reside in gravitationally bound pairs of stars (binaries). Although long anticipated, the existence of a 'circumbinary planet' orbiting such a pair of normal stars was not definitively established until the discovery of the planet transiting (that is, passing in front of) Kepler-16. Questions remained, however, about the prevalence of circumbinary planets and their range of orbital and physical properties. Here we report two additional transiting circumbinary planets: Kepler-34 (AB)b and Kepler-35 (AB)b, referred to here as Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b, respectively. Each is a low-density gas-giant planet on an orbit closely aligned with that of its parent stars. Kepler-34 b orbits two Sun-like stars every 289 days, whereas Kepler-35 b orbits a pair of smaller stars (89% and 81% of the Sun's mass) every 131 days. The planets experience large multi-periodic variations in incident stellar radiation arising from the orbital motion of the stars. The observed rate of circumbinary planets in our sample implies that more than ∼1% of close binary stars have giant planets in nearly coplanar orbits, yielding a Galactic population of at least several million.

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Comment in

  • Astronomy: A new class of planet.
    Southworth J. Southworth J. Nature. 2012 Jan 11;481(7382):448-9. doi: 10.1038/nature10818. Nature. 2012. PMID: 22281587 No abstract available.

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