Think back to Tatooine...
That's right, the planet we met our space-hero, Luke Skywalker, on!
That's right, the planet we met our space-hero, Luke Skywalker, on!
See those double suns?
Guess what!
There's a planet just like this in the constellation Cygnus!
Guess what!
There's a planet just like this in the constellation Cygnus!
Currently this planet is named Kepler-1647b, but I think they misnamed the poor thing.
It is quite OBVIOUSLY Tatooine.
We know that this planet is 3700 light-years away from us and is approximately 4.4 billion years old.
That is just about the same age as our planet!
They should be besties.
It is quite OBVIOUSLY Tatooine.
We know that this planet is 3700 light-years away from us and is approximately 4.4 billion years old.
That is just about the same age as our planet!
They should be besties.
They may be roughly the same age but Kepler-1647b is HUGE!
It has a mass and radius similar to Jupiter!
This makes it the largest transiting circumbinary planet ever found!!
(That means the largest planet ever found that orbits two stars. You're welcome.)
(That means the largest planet ever found that orbits two stars. You're welcome.)
Planets like these are sometimes referred to as "Tatooine planets"... So I guess the name faux pas is forgivable this time.
This planet takes a whopping 1,107 days to orbit it's two stars!
That's more than 3 years!!
That's more than 3 years!!
 |
| I am one year old on Kepler-1647b |
Life, however is HIGHLY unlikely on a gas giant such as Kepler-1647b.
(Although it could be possible for us to live on any large moons it may have.)
(Although it could be possible for us to live on any large moons it may have.)
I, for one, look forward to learning more about Kepler-1647b and any other Tatooine planets they may find!
Perhaps one day, we'll have a Tatooine planet that we can visit.
Source: NASA
Perhaps one day, we'll have a Tatooine planet that we can visit.
Source: NASA
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