A group of astrophysicists from The University of Texas at Arlington plans to expand the discussion about a newly discovered planet orbiting two stars by presenting a study suggesting where an Earth-type planet could exist in the system.
The Kepler-16 System made headlines in September when researchers at NASA’s Kepler space telescope mission revealed the discovery of Kepler-16b, a cold, gaseous planet orbiting both stars, like Star Wars’ fictional Tatooine.
The UT Arlington team, using data from the Kepler and previous research, have concluded that an Earth-type planet could exist in the system’s “habitable zone” as an exomoon orbiting Kepler-16b. They also think an “extended habitable zone” exists outside the orbit of the gaseous planet, under certain conditions. To host life in that zone, a terrestrial planet orbiting the two stars would need to have high levels of greenhouse gases in its atmosphere such as carbon monoxide or methane, they said.
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