Name: In Galaxies Far, Far Away, Some Planets Have Two Stars
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Science fiction got some things right: On worlds in binary star systems, there are always two shadows and two sunsets.

What would life be like in a binary star system?

In Galaxies Far, Far Away, Some Planets Have Two Stars

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Science fiction got some things right: On worlds in binary star systems, there are always two shadows and two sunsets.

What would life be like in a binary star system?

Space & Flight

In Galaxies Far, Far Away, Some Planets Have Two StarsPublished: December 7, 2021Narrator: Dawn, ushered in by not one star, but two. Perhaps the rogue world began its life in a binary system like this.Sara Seager: On a planet that's orbiting two stars, there would always be two shadows, and you would see two sunsets. I like to say that science fiction got some things right.Hannah Wakeford: What does that feel like? The heat of two suns? Is that a nice heat or is that too much? There's so many questions around binary star systems.Narrator: For a time, the planet may enjoy a stable period in the habitable zone of one of these stars. But the peace does not last.Hakeem Oluseyi: The moment there's more than two bodies involved in a gravitational dance, things get complicated really fast because each body gravitationally affects every other body. On earth, the most obvious manifestation of gravity from a body that's not earth is the tides. The moon affects our tides. What can happen in these binary systems is that this strong gravity between these two stars can shift orbits drastically.Narrator: This huge combined gravitational force interferes with the planet's orbit, creating chaos.Oluseyi: There's a very thin line between stability and instability. And when instability kicks in, it goes from a stable system to a chaotic system. And at that point, anything could happen.

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In Galaxies Far, Far Away, Some Planets Have Two Stars

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