Circumbinary planets Archives

Stellar SEDs for α Cen A (blue) and B (orange) binned to 1 ˚A. The SED of the Sun, scaled to a distance of 1.33 pc, from Woods et al. (2009) is shown in gray for comparison. Colored background regions show the various regions described in §5.2. The regions containing the reconstructed Lyα (1214–1217 ˚A, §5.2.4) and SISTINE detector gap (1270–1300 ˚A, §5.2.3) are not colored for clarity. The PHOENIX model extends to 107 ˚A but we have restricted the Y axis to 10−17 erg s−1 cm−2 ˚A −1 , again to aid visual clarity of features within the main spectra. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report

Investigating the High-energy Radiation Environment of Planets in Sun-like Binary Systems

by Keith CowingJanuary 13, 2026January 13, 2026

Far-ultraviolet (FUV) radiation is a driving source of photochemistry in planetary atmospheres. Proper interpretation of atmospheric observations requires a full understanding of the radiation environment that a planet is exposed […]

Illustration from the book “Sur les autres mondes” (Rudaux 1937), with a planet surface illuminated by two suns of different colors. While the shadows’ colors might be realistic, modern stability criteria of circumbinary planet orbits imply that the angle between the shadows is too large, requiring a planet that is too close to the binary for a stable orbit. Credit: Photographic reproduction from original book by Lucien Rudaux (1874-1947), in public domain. -- astro-ph.EP

Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Status Report

The Way To Circumbinary Planets

by Keith CowingAugust 30, 2024August 29, 2024

Circumbinary planets (CBPs) are planets that orbit around both stars of a binary system. This chapter traces the history of research on CBPs and provides an overview over the current […]