Amateur astronomers have discovered a planet with two suns, much like the fictional planet 'Tatooine' from Star Wars. Not only does this new planet orbit two suns, it is orbited by two other suns.
The incredible planet in this four sun solar system was discovered by the Planet Hunters which is organized by Yale University. The discovery is the first of its kind.
Planet Hunters, which started in 2012 "is a symbiotic project, pairing the discovery power of the people with follow-up by a team of astronomers," Debra Fischer, a professor of astronomy at Yale and planet expert told MSNBC. These amateur astronomers analyze data collected by NASA's Kepler space telescope to find traces of new planets.
"This unique system might have been entirely missed if not for the sharp eyes of the public," Fischer said.
The members of Planet Hunters, Kian Jek of San Francisco, Calif., and Robert Gagliano of Cottonwood, Ariz., were able to find PH1 using something called the transit method. With this, they noticed changes in light as PH1 passed in front of its parent stars, according to MSNBC.
PH1's existence was confirmed by professional astronomers after Planet Hunters' discovery.
Jek and Gagliano are ecstatic about their find.
"It's a great honor to be a Planet Hunter, citizen scientist, and work hand in hand with professional astronomers, making a real contribution to science," Gagliano said, according to MSNBC.
"It still continues to astonish me how we can detect, let alone glean so much information, about another planet thousands of light-years away just by studying the light from its parent star," Jek said.
PH1, a gas planet, is slightly bigger than Neptune. It is a circumbinary planet, meaning it has two suns. These types of planets have been discovered before, but this PH1 is the first to be discovered which has an extra two suns. Due to this, someone standing on the planet would see a double sunset and two very bright stars in the night sky, according to the Daily Mail.
However it would be impossible to stand on PH1 as researchers believe it has a temperature range from 484 degrees Fahrenheit to 644 degrees F, making it too hot to live on.
Before the discovery of PH1, there were only six other known circumbinary planets.
These discoveries thrill "Star Wars" fans as the fictional Tatooine, which also had two suns, is where Luke Skywalker was born and raised.
"Circumbinary planets are the extremes of planet formation," researcher Meg Schwamb of Yale University told MSNBC. "The discovery of these systems is forcing us to go back to the drawing board to understand how such planets can assemble and evolve in these dynamically challenging environments."
This four-star solar system is being called KIC 4862625.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
