WOBBLY SPACE JETS MAY AFFECT ALIEN LIFE

Binary star protoplanets could form differently due to infalling material

- Stefanie Waldek

Because Earth is the only planet known to host life as we know it, researchers have usually focused on planetary systems similar to our own when searching for extraterrestrial life. But new research suggests that planetary systems form differently around binary stars than they do around lone stars like the Sun, and those differences could affect the potential for a binary star system to support life.

Nearly 50 percent of all Sun-size stars are binary stars, so if the new theory is confirmed, it could double the number of systems that researchers might want to probe. "The result is exciting since the search for extraterrestrial life will be equipped with several new, extremely powerful instruments within the coming years," lead scientist Jes Kristian Jørgensen, a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, said. "This enhances the significance of understanding how planets are formed around different types of stars. Such results may pinpoint places which would be especially interesting to probe for the existence of life."