I Planet at barycenter of a binary system.

AI Thread Summary
A planet located at the barycenter of a binary star system with similar mass is unlikely to maintain a dynamically stable orbit over billions of years. Instead, it would likely experience instability, eventually resulting in an orbit that either leads to its ejection from the system or a shift into an unstable orbit around one of the stars. In such a scenario, the planet would not experience a typical night cycle, but rather a continuous dusk/morning to daytime cycle due to the gravitational influences of both stars. Measuring time on this planet, especially in a bronze age context, would be challenging due to its unstable orbit. Overall, the dynamics of such a system suggest that long-term stability is improbable.
vladpaln
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Say you have a binary system (with similar mass) in the following orbit
160px-Orbit1.gif


with a planet located at the barycenter, is this possible and is this a dynamically stable system (over billion of years) ??

If this system was an Earth like system would I assume correctly that it would not have a nigh but instead a dusk/morning to daytime cycle?

Does anyone have any ideas on how to measure time on such a planet (think bronze age)??
 
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It's instable.
 
Would the planet end up orbiting the binary stars or get thrown out of the system all together??
 
vladpaln said:
Would the planet end up orbiting the binary stars or get thrown out of the system all together??

It will most likely get into an unstable orbit (outside the hill sphere) around a star and than escape in the long term. You can play with the starting parameters in this simulation.
 
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