http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/215813/20110918/planet-orbiting-two-suns-uncommon-planet-tatooine-kepler-16b-kepler-16-saturn-mass-planet.htm
NASA's $600 million Kepler space telescope discovered a planet orbiting two suns, just like in Star Wars, 34 years ago, where they refer to a planet called "Tatooine" with two sunsets. Named Kepler-16b, the rare planet is the first confirmed solar system of its kind. A planet like this is called a circumbinary planet. (A planet that orbits one sun is called a binary planet.)
Kepler-16b is about the size of Saturn and 200 light years from Earth.
But Kepler-16b is not completely like Tatooine. It is cold and dark, made of gas and probably not inhabited.
The reason for this is that the two suns are smaller and cooler than our sun. They are 20 and 69 percent as massive as the sun and circle each other every 41 days. It takes Kepler 229 days to circle both stars. Kepler 16b's interaction with two different suns means that temperatures on its surface can vary by about 50 degrees, between roughly minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
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ReplyDeleteVery clear summary of the article, however, remember that you need two paragraphs. The summary and the reflection about the article. Please use the guidelines I gave you in September.
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