Kepler-16

system

Kepler-16 — a pair of stars ~245 light-years away in Cygnus, orbited by the real 'Tatooine': Kepler-16 b, the first planet confirmed to circle TWO suns. From its surface a double sunset would be genuinely real. Descend to see the two stars and their circumbinary planet.

Open in 3D viewSee Kepler-16 in the live, interactive 3D map

Science

Classification

Type: Planetary system
Distance: ~245 light-years · its real distance from the Sun
Explore: Descend to see the star and its confirmed planets

How we know

Note: A real star system, shown at its measured position in the galaxy. Its star and confirmed planets — their measured sizes and how each was found — are on the cards inside; descend to explore them. Distances follow Gaia parallax; planet data follow the NASA Exoplanet Archive.

Discovery & history

Name: A designation from NASA's Kepler mission (also KOI-1611); no proper name.

NASA's Kepler telescope found the planet in 2011 by watching it transit BOTH stars of an eclipsing binary — the first unambiguous circumbinary planet, a configuration many had doubted could be stable. It was widely dubbed 'Tatooine' for the two-sun world of Star Wars.

Images

Artist's concept of Kepler-16 b, the first planet found to orbit two suns — a real 'Tatooine', with a genuine double sunset. An artist's impression, not a photograph. — NASA / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle (public domain) · Wikimedia Commons

Images from open archives · credit shown per image