Astronomers have discovered a third planet in the Kepler-47 system. This discovery makes Kepler-47 perhaps the most interesting of binary-star system yet observed. Using data from the Kepler space telescope, a team led by astronomers at San Diego State University, detected the Neptune-sized planet orbiting between two previously observed planets.
With three planets orbiting the binary star system, Kepler-47 is the only known multi-planet circumbinary system.
An animation shows an artistic renditions of the Kepler-47 circumbinary planet system and its three planets with the large middle planet being the newly discovered Kepler 47d. NASA/JPL‑Caltech/T. Pyle
“We saw a hint of a third planet back in 2012, but with only one transit we needed more data to be sure,” said SDSU astronomer Jerome Orosz, the paper’s lead author. “With an additional transit, the planet’s orbital period could be determined, and we were then able to uncover more transits that were hidden in the noise in the earlier data.”
For the complete article go to the NASA Exoplanet website.