Circumbinary

Further study showed that the third body popped up time and again as it circled both stars in what is known as a circumbinary orbit. ❋ Unknown (2011)

In the Light of Two Suns - This artist's concept illustrates Kepler-16b, the first planet known to definitively orbit two stars -- what's called a circumbinary planet. ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

Worlds that orbit around two stars, known as circumbinary planets, had been hinted at before. ❋ Unknown (2011)

In the story -- in a hypothetical galaxy far, far away, -- a circumbinary planet's double sunset was first brought to the screen. ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

The public's vision of circumbinary planets thus goes back decades. ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

The research team discovered the circumbinary planet in an eclipsing binary system. ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

The discovery that such "circumbinary" planets can exist increases the likelihood of success of the Kepler Mission, which is to detect the first habitable; i.e., Earthlike, planets around other stars. ❋ SETI Institute (2011)

And while many planets have been suspected of having two suns, this newfound planet is the first "circumbinary" planet confirmed by astronomers. ❋ [email protected] (2011)

Now Nasa has discovered that Kepler-16b, much like the fictional Tatooine, is a circumbinary planet - a planet that orbits two parent stars - as opposed to the Earth and its sole star, the Sun. ❋ Unknown (2011)

"Kepler-16b is the first confirmed, unambiguous example of a circumbinary planet - a planet orbiting not one, but two stars," said co-author Josh Carter of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. ❋ Unknown (2011)

But there's plenty that's interesting about our new circumbinary find, including its discovery through an odd pattern of eclipses. ❋ Unknown (2011)

"Now that we know how to detect circumbinary planets, I think we are going to find a lot more rapidly," Doyle told SPACE.com. ❋ Unknown (2011)