Planet Found to Orbit Two Suns: We've Seen this Before

A team of scientists at NASA Ames Research Center has found such a remarkable place in outer space: a new planet, called Kepler-16b, which orbits around two different stars.

"It’s an indication of what is possible — something entirely new and different, something very exotic," said lead scientist Laurance Doyle of the SETI Institute of Mountain View, Calif.

This discovery evokes the emotional "Star Wars" scene where young Luke Skywalker ponders his future under two glowing orbs; all that’s missing is John Williams and the London Symphony soundtrack.

The planet resides in the western wing tip of the constellation Cynus, the swan. Of the three bright stars on the wing — barely visible with binoculars — Kepler16b is about a half a degree away from the star Iota.
But earthlings can’t get there, the team cautioned. It’s 200 light years away, so it would take about 3.5 million years to get there, if you travel as fast as the space probe Voyager.

About the size of Saturn, it has an ice-rocky core and a gassy helium-hydrogen atmosphere. The gravity is crushing. It’s cold — about 100 to 150 degrees below Fahrenheit, notably colder than the most frigid day ever in Antarctica. Although planets that orbit two stars instead of just one have been glimpsed before, none have been observed passing in front of, or transiting, their parent stars until now.

Astronomers believe that these "binary stars" are not so unusual — in fact, they are thought to comprise about half of all the stars in our galaxy. So our one sun galaxy may not be the norm.

NASA Still Looking at Monday Shuttle Launch

Engineers are still trying to repair the space shuttle Endeavour said they remain hopeful the problem can be resolved in time for the shuttle to launch Monday.

After getting access to Endeavour's engine compartment Saturday after the removal of rocket fuel from the shuttle's tank, technicians narrowed down the problem to two potential causes. They said one of those causes is easy to fix, the other is difficult.

Technicians reported that the problem could be traced to a thermostat, a part that could be replaced in a few hours.

However, the problem could also be related to a controller that routes power to heaters in an auxiliary power unit. In that case, the launch would be delayed until at least May 8 because of the complicated process required to repair or replace the controller.

Further troubleshooting should isolate the cause to one of the two possibilities, managers said.
Mission managers will discuss the options Sunday morning and decide on a launch date. A launch on Monday would be at 2:33 p.m. ET.

Endeavour's launch was called off Friday when heaters in an auxiliary power unit failed. The power units control the shuttle's steering systems during launch and landing.  Many dignitaries including President Obama and the First Family were going to attend last Friday's launch.