"More than half of the stars in the universe exist in binary or multiple star systems. Scientists previously identified circumbinary planets via their transits: when these planets pass in front of a star, it casts a shadow on the star's surface, we see a dip in brightness of the star and we can infer there's something going around it."
"The researchers instead used a method known as apsidal precession, searching for a wobble between stars that orbit around and eclipse each other. If we monitor the exact timing of these eclipses that can tell us that there's something else going on in the system."
Astronomers have identified 27 new potential circumbinary planets orbiting two stars, increasing the total known to 45. These planets are located between 650 and 18,000 light years from Earth. Circumbinary planets are challenging to detect, typically identified through transits that cause dips in star brightness. However, researchers employed a method called apsidal precession to detect wobbles in star systems. This method allowed them to identify 36 star systems from a sample of 1,590, revealing the complexity of binary star systems and the potential for more undiscovered planets.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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