Have planets in binary star systems been detected yet?

Yes. The star 16 Cygni B is a binary star and it is now known that it has a planet orbiting it. The folks who work on solar system formation must be pulling out their hair trying to understand the weird planets that the folks at San Francisco State University have been turning up. An awful lot of Jupiter-sized planets are seen with orbits smaller than that of the Earth around Sun-like stars. This is, of course, partly an observation selection effect since such planets produce the largest 'signal' in the spectroscopic investigations. Still, the fact that there are ANY at all is perplexing. Our solar system sure looks like the odd ball in the pack. Then again, the searches so far will only turn up really weird planets in odd orbits. We need to wait for more comprehensive surveys to see what the true range of solar system archetypes looks like!

NOTE!!!!!!

Due to an unfortunate mental block, I frequently mistake 61 Cygni B for 16 Cygni B. It is 16 Cygni B which is now identified as having an orbiting planet!


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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