A team of researchers from the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom has announced that binary planetary systems are more easily formed from a physical perspective and could be prime targets in the search for extraterrestrial life due to their unique nature. Binary Planetary Systems and Extraterrestrial Life.
These findings, published in the “Monthly Notices” of the Royal Astronomical Society, emerged from multiple simulation batches conducted on 100 expected planetary systems in our galactic neighborhood and beyond, focusing on rocky planet formations in systems with 2 to 5 initial planets.
A binary planet is a term used to describe two bodies orbiting each other, both having planetary mass, often revolving around a common center of mass situated between them. Our solar system provides a closer model in Pluto and Charon, although they are classified as binary dwarf planets, not binary planets.
This planetary system type is believed to originate from catastrophic collisions in ancient times, where two planets collide, shatter each other, and then regroup to form two planets orbiting each other. This mechanism is also proposed for the formation of the Earth-Moon system and the Pluto-Charon system.
Warm Worlds
According to the study, the likelihood of binary planet formation is higher than previously thought. Moreover, researchers found that the gravitational interaction between the two planets can elevate internal temperatures, consequently raising their surface temperatures. This implies the possibility of a planet far from its host star maintaining a moderate atmospheric temperature due to its gravitational interaction with its orbiting partner.
A notable example is Jupiter’s moon Ganymede, where Jupiter’s gravity significantly affects its temperature. Despite being five times further from the Sun than Earth, scientists believe Ganymede harbors a warm ocean beneath its icy surface due to this gravitational interaction.
Kepler 1708b, a Jupiter-sized planet discovered in 2011 orbiting a sun-like star about 5600 light-years from Earth, is a current focus of scientific interest. In 2021, a study in “Nature” confirmed, based on data from NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope, that Kepler 1708b is a binary planet with another Neptune-sized planet orbiting it.
In July 2021, a team led by scientists from the Astrobiology Center in Madrid, Spain, confirmed that the emerging star system “PDS 70,” located 400 light-years away, possesses two Jupiter-sized protoplanets sharing the same orbit, which might eventually orbit each other. Binary Planetary Systems and Extraterrestrial Life.
