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Stable planetary orbits around one component in nearby binary stars

  • Long Term Evolution of Planetary Systems
  • Session on Planetary Dynamics
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Abstract

Numerical simulations are made within the frame of the elliptic planar restricted three-body problem, in order to search if stable orbits exist for planets around one of the two components in double stars. The values taken for the binary's mass ratio and eccentricity correspond to real nearby double and multiple systems; the α Centauri and Sirius systems are investigated here. Large stable planetary orbits, already known to exist through a systematic exploration of the circular model and for the Sun-Jupiter elliptic case, are found to exist around α Centauri A and α Centauri B, as well as around Sirius A, up to distances from each star of the order of more than half the binary's periastron separation. Similar studies for other nearby well-known double and multiple systems will follow.

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Benest, D. Stable planetary orbits around one component in nearby binary stars. Celestial Mechanics 43, 47–53 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01234553

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