For example the infinity symbol can a planet orbit the two stars like that, supposing the 2 stars were equal or almost equal in almost every way and not so far apart.
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It is the basic three-body problem that is not solved. This(Kepler16B) is one scenario of many such. Its a rare case of a pair of tightly orbiting Stars (about 0.21 AU apart, much closer than Mercury's orbit) with a distant Saturn-sized planet at about 0.7 AU (orbit of Venus). The planet orbits the common center of masses of the Star-pair and periodically strongly perturbed too. The dynamics (Mathematics) would be very complicated.
The case of 'infinity' shaped orbit is highly unstable to the point of non-existence. If ever such a thing is possible it would last couple of orbits with the planet finally seized by either of the stars, caused by a slight perturbation error.
The case of 'infinity' shaped orbit is highly unstable to the point of non-existence. If ever such a thing is possible it would last couple of orbits with the planet finally seized by either of the stars, caused by a slight perturbation error.
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Yes. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/scienc…
It is a rare event. The planet does not orbit like the infinity symbol like you might suppose instead it has a sort of elliptical triangle pattern. The reason it can't logically orbit two stars is gravity. Basically every object has gravity. Even you. So the planet has gravity which means it attracts something and is attracted to something. The stars also have gravity but theirs is more effective because of their size. When a planet orbits the star the gravity of the sun pulls it close but the accelration of the planet whips it away from the star (it's more complex then that but this is a simple answer). This sort of balances and causes the planet to constantly revolve around the star. But imagine if the planet got stuck between the two, not only would both stars gravity attract the planet, but the planet itself would attract the stars. This has the impact of slowly bringing the stars together, eventually and quickly the planet is destroyed. There's a lot more to the science, but yes a planet could orbit two stars, in fact a planet could orbit another planet and orbit two stars. We will probably never identify one of those planets in your lifetime, but they have the possibility of existing.
It is a rare event. The planet does not orbit like the infinity symbol like you might suppose instead it has a sort of elliptical triangle pattern. The reason it can't logically orbit two stars is gravity. Basically every object has gravity. Even you. So the planet has gravity which means it attracts something and is attracted to something. The stars also have gravity but theirs is more effective because of their size. When a planet orbits the star the gravity of the sun pulls it close but the accelration of the planet whips it away from the star (it's more complex then that but this is a simple answer). This sort of balances and causes the planet to constantly revolve around the star. But imagine if the planet got stuck between the two, not only would both stars gravity attract the planet, but the planet itself would attract the stars. This has the impact of slowly bringing the stars together, eventually and quickly the planet is destroyed. There's a lot more to the science, but yes a planet could orbit two stars, in fact a planet could orbit another planet and orbit two stars. We will probably never identify one of those planets in your lifetime, but they have the possibility of existing.
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Yes. Here's a whole web page of hits about Kepler 16b:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=na…
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=na…
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......... yes.