Small question about binary star orbits.

If a planet orbits a binary star set, will it be orbiting both stars, in a very distant orbit, or orbit close to one, and have the other star go around both the host star and it's planet?

I hope yunz get what i'm saying.

Thanks ATS.

Now, I am no astronomer, but I have been looking into this. I would be glad to share what I know. 85% of stars have a 'twin'. The big ones, the ones we see clearly, have the planets orbiting around them, AND the twin also orbits, kind of. They influence each other, but mostly when they get close to each other. It is an eliptical orbit, not circular like planets. The smaller 'twin' can ALSO have planets orbiting IT. OUR twin, Nemesis, supposedly has much space 'debris' in its wake. Junk that it caught in its gravity, following it on its' 3,600 year orbit into outer space.
Niburu is supposedly one of those supposed orbiting planets around the supposed Nemesis. SUPPOSEDLY, it is already influencing our solar flares and sunspots as it gets close, and is supposedly currently on the opposite side of our Sol, and is supposed to be dimly visible this month. This would explain our massive weather changes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. We have always had, but now they are extreme. Hope that help a bit.

It gets very complicated.
Try playing around with this.
phet.colorado.edu...

In a binary star system, the two stars orbit around the common center of gravity. So, if the stars are of the same size, then, they are in the same orbit in opposite positions. Hope that you got the point.

Originally posted by peacejet
In a binary star system, the two stars orbit around the common center of gravity. So, if the stars are of the same size, then, they are in the same orbit in opposite positions. Hope that you got the point.

Common center of gravity yes, but the configuration you describe is not the only one. The stars can also be in two separate but "linked" orbits.

Play with simulator I linked above. It's fun.

It depends actually. A planet in a binary system might go round one star, orbit the barycenter, it get thrown between the three.

The simulator is really cool, and if I set the mass of one star much lower than the other, it falls into the bigger star. Great job by the designers of the program.

Thanks Phage, that simulator is awesome, i've been playing with it for hours. So does our star have a sister, binary star, and if so, wouldn't it have been documented by an ancient civilization? I mean, you would think the empires that star gazed wouldve taken record of two sun rises and sunsets, or would the introduction of another star getting closer make the planets too hot and kill everything? And if there is another star in orbit, anyone know how many years it takes to orbit our sun, or if the two are orbiting around a center of gravity, and is the other star too far for us to take seriously, as it has no affect on our planets, because if it were closer, the solar system wouldve been warmer, and dwarf planets like pluto wouldve been a lot warmer on it's surface.

To be honest, i don't know what the hell I just asked, haha! I hope the questions make sense, or even known by our scientists at nasa and esa.

reply to post by Schmidt1989


There is no evidence of the Solar System being part of a binary system. The questions you ask are good ones. Even a distant companion would be visible (if not with visible light it would be visible in infrared). The IRAS Survey (an infrared study of the entire sky conducted in 1983) found no such companion.

The nearest star to us (Alpha Centauri, which is a binary system is over 4 light years away, far too distant to be a binary companion.

[edit on 1/11/2009 by Phage]

reply to post by Phage


Neat. Tried the preset binary star with planet setting. If anyone was on that planet, they would end up extremely dizzy!!!!


Cheers!!!!