Kepler 16b is a planet with two suns. The planet was recently discovered by the space-based Kepler satellite. Although multiple star systems are quite common, this is the first known to have a planet.
Because our Earth is in the orbital plane of both stars and the planet, each body is seen to eclipse the others at different times, producing noticeable drop offs in the amount of light seen. The frequent eclipses have given Kepler 16b the most accurate mass and radius determination for a planet outside our Solar System.
No comments:
Post a Comment