NASA's Kepler Mission Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting Twin Suns

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NASA's Kepler mission has discovered the first transiting circumbinary system -- multiple planets orbiting two suns -- 4,900 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Cygnus, proving that more than one planets can form and survive in orbit around a binary star.

The inner planet, Kepler-47b, orbits the pair of stars in less than 50 days. It is thought to be a sweltering world, where the destruction of methane in its super-heated atmosphere might lead to a thick haze that could blanket the planet. At three times the radius of Earth, Kepler-47b is the smallest known transiting circumbinary planet.

The outer planet, Kepler-47c, orbits its host pair every 303 days, placing it in the so-called "habitable zone," the region in a planetary system where liquid water might exist on the surface of a planet. While not a world hospitable for life, Kepler-47c is thought to be a gaseous giant, slightly larger than Neptune, where an atmosphere of thick bright water clouds might exist.

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Right. What they are seeing now happened about 4000 years ago.
Or, in other words, if you had a spaceship that traveled at lightspeed, it would take about 4000 years to get to that planetary system.
Bring a book.

MartianStories
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more stars of grains of sand on the Earth but there are even more planets

teenee
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No, at that speed the time is passing slower for you.

Frontdoor
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wow si que es buen descubrimiento, soles gemelos :)

jcsmonsterpop
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It it's 4, 900 light years away, how is it that we could get there in only 54 years traveling at 99.99% of the speed of light? How does time slow down the faster you travel?

JutifiedGamma
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this is what confuses me about light years, the view is 4000 years old but we are in danger this year in real time because of what happened 4000 years ago. How can our real time be accurate that our earth is having changes this year when it shows the affects are in real time in our own solar system.

beverlyraddatz
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Well, actually you can´t travel at speed of light because your mass would be infinite. At 99% of light speed it would take 564 years for example, at 99, 99% it would take 56 years. The theory of relativity only applies until 100%.

Frontdoor
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Dear People who say there could be no life on a Gas planet in the habitable Zone: Y U No Consider Moon

mottmattproductions
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Thats really cool. bet ya its tattoine

DJCoupland
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Oh, okay. Then in the astronaut's frame of reference, it would take a few hundred years less, maybe.
Bring a shorter book.

MartianStories
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It´s the special theory of relativity by Einstein. Check the wiki entry if you want more information on that.

Frontdoor
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Does anyone know what the effect of the second star does to the planet's orbits? Just wondering.

Flare