News Astronomy

Lots of Tatooine-like planets around binary stars may be habitable

The home world of Luke Skywalker might not be so farfetched after all

An illustration of the Kepler-35 system with a planet in the foreground and two stars in the background.

Planets with twin suns, such as this hypothetical world in the Kepler-35 system (shown in an artist's impression), may make up the bulk of habitable worlds in the universe.

JPL-Caltech/NASA

By James R. Riordon

SEATTLE — Luke Skywalker’s home planet in Star Wars is the stuff of science fiction. But Tatooine-like planets in orbit around pairs of stars might be our best bet in the search for habitable planets beyond our solar system.