Are there any habitable binary star systems in the Kepler catalog?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Basilisk
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Kepler
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the search for habitable binary star systems in the Kepler catalog, specifically those where a secondary star has a fixed orbit around a primary star while maintaining a habitable zone. The user specifies a preference for G and K class star combinations, avoiding systems like Alpha Centauri where both stars orbit a common center. They later broaden their inquiry to include triple star systems, seeking configurations where a third, larger star orbits a central binary pair, ideally with a suitable habitable zone. The user expresses difficulty finding such systems and seeks resources for further exploration. The conversation highlights the rarity of suitable binary and triple star configurations for potential habitability.
Basilisk
Messages
4
Reaction score
0
Hi, this is my first post, and it is sort of a complicated question (I think. Perhaps it is easy and I don't know how to solve it).

In the Kepler catalog, are there any binary star systems, where the secondary star orbits the central star that have something close to the following conditions?.

- Can't be like Alpha Centauri where A and B are orbiting around a mass center. I need the secondary star to have a fixed orbit around the primary star (doesn't have to be circular, can be elliptical, the lower the eccentricity the better, though)
- Enough orbital space between the central star and the secondary star orbits to have a habitable zone around the primary star.
- Stars are G and K classes combination (like Alpha Centauri), so there is no photon-cannon around to make carbon based life impossible (no O stars in the vicinity).
- The closest to our Sol system, the better.

Any help will be appreciated.

Also, if there is any good Kepler resource that you guys can point me to, like an online database or such where I can get this information by myself, that would be awesome.

Thanks in advance and sorry for my newbism.
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Let me update this. I found that binary stars systems with one star orbiting another are very rare, if not impossible.
So, let me change my question to another kind of star system. I need a triple star system with a habitable zone around the central binary pair, with a third heavier, larger and brighter star orbiting around the central binary pair. Basically, like this:

http://i.minus.com/irobKjqCEbsNE.jpg

Thanks again for any tips on the sun's closest stellar system with that setup.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Yeah, they seem interesting. The only thing is that the third star is orbiting too close in one and too far in the other one. But I will look on them. Thanks a lot.
 
3I/ATLAS, also known as C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) and formerly designated as A11pl3Z, is an iinterstellar comet. It was discovered by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) station at Río Hurtado, Chile on 1 July 2025. Note: it was mentioned (as A11pl3Z) by DaveE in a new member's introductory thread. https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/brian-cox-lead-me-here.1081670/post-7274146 https://earthsky.org/space/new-interstellar-object-candidate-heading-toward-the-sun-a11pl3z/ One...
Back
Top