Tatooine Archives

Circumbinary planet -- Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Tatooine-Class Planet Discovered Orbiting Two Suns

by Keith CowingMay 5, 2026May 5, 2026

There’s so little we know about circumbinary planets – planets that orbit two stars instead of one – that they can feel like the stuff of fantasy.

Examples of events identified by mono-cbp and vetted by the model comparison (Section 2.4). Top left: Sector 6 transit of TOI-1338 b (same as Fig. 1), classified as a transit. Top right: An instrumental systematic occurring in the Sector 4 light curve of TIC 55497281, classified as a step. Bottom left: Poor removal of stellar variability in the Sector 8 light curve of TIC 5092088, classified as a sinusoid. Bottom right: An unclassified event occurring in Sector 12 light curve of TIC 260502102, where there was no preferred model. In all panels, the shaded regions depict the 16th and 84th percentiles of the posterior distributions for each model. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Finding Circumbinary Planets: A Semi-Automated Transit Search of TESS Eclipsing Binaries

by Keith CowingApril 14, 2026April 14, 2026

The discovery of circumbinary planets (CBPs) has advanced our understanding of planet formation and dynamical evolution in complex environments.

An artist's depiction of a planet, represented by the black circle, orbiting a pair of stars — a so-called binary star system. (Image Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center)

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release, Science Fiction, Stellar Cartography

Why Are Tatooine Planets Rare? Blame General Relativity

by Keith CowingJanuary 30, 2026January 30, 2026

Of the more than 4,500 stars known to have planets, one puzzling statistic stands out. Even though nearly all stars are expected to have planets and most stars form in […]

Time-lapse footage of a newly discovered exoplanet as it makes its slow journey around two stars. To obtain the image of the planet, astronomers needed to remove the stars' glare. Two star icons mark the locations of where the stars would be in relation to their planet. Credit Jason Wang/Northwestern University

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gas Giants, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Science Fiction

Rare Image Of Tatooine-like Planet Is Closest To Its Twin Stars Yet

by Keith CowingDecember 14, 2025December 14, 2025

In a discovery that’s fit for a movie, Northwestern University astronomers have directly imaged a Tatooine-like exoplanet, orbiting two suns.

Astronomy & Telescopes, Conferences and Meetings, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Science Fiction, Status Report

Exploring Tatooine and Beyond: Circumbinary Planets With ESA Missions

by Keith CowingNovember 5, 2025November 5, 2025

ESAC, Madrid, Spain10-12 December 2025

Surface water regimes for terrestrial planets ranging from 0.1 M⊕ to 10 M⊕. Each limit between regimes is explained in the text. Planets in either the waterworld, Earth-like, or Dune planet regime may be habitable, while desiccated surfaces are uninhabitable. The transition between surface water regimes depends weakly on planetary mass (cf. Cowan & Abbot 2014) -- astro-ph.EP

Analog Studies, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water Evolution and Inventories of Super-Earths Orbiting Late M-Dwarfs

by Keith CowingJuly 1, 2024July 1, 2024

Super-Earths orbiting M-dwarf stars may be the most common habitable planets in the Universe. However, their habitability is threatened by intense irradiation from their host stars, which drives the escape […]

Colour-Magnitude diagram of the BEBOP sample, using Gaia DR3, with the colour representing our effective temperature. The cooler stars are represented by darker colours, becoming brighter as the effective temperature increases. The expected trend of the brightest, bluest stars (top left) being the hottest, and the dimmer, redder ones (bottom right) being the coolest is seen clearly here. -- astro-ph.SR

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

BEBOP V. Homogeneous Stellar Analysis of Potential Circumbinary Planet Hosts

by Keith CowingJune 6, 2024June 6, 2024

Planets orbiting binary systems are relatively unexplored compared to those around single stars. Detections of circumbinary planets and planetary systems offer a first detailed view into our understanding of circumbinary […]

Image relaborated from Canva premium Libraries - Royalty free CREDIT Journal of Science Communication - JCOM

Habitable Zones, Press Release, Science Fiction, SETI & Technosignatures, Societal Issues

From Tatooine To Reality

by Keith CowingMarch 5, 2024March 5, 2024

An astronomy lesson on binary stars could begin with a series of complex diagrams and data, or with a clip from the movie Star Wars where Luke Skywalker looks up […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Science Fiction

The Search For More Temperate Tatooines

by Keith CowingFebruary 23, 2024February 23, 2024

Luke Skywalker’s childhood might have been slightly less harsh if he’d grown up on a more temperate Tatooine — like the ones identified in a new, Yale-led study.