Could planets be in a stable orbit in the Sirius star system?

Sure, if they orbit far enough away from Sirius A and B so that these two stars look like a single star. Then the orbits can be stable for millions of years. Of course, the Sirius system has only been around for about 1 billion years or less. The planets would have to be several 10's of AU from Sirius A in order for it to stand a good chance of not being ejected.

 

One of the planets discovered by Marcy and Butler orbits 16 Cygnus B which is a member of a binary star system. The companion star is 700 AU from 16 Cygnus B, and the furthest-out planet detected seems to be at a distance of only 0.6 to 1.7 AU in a very elliptical orbit. But the primary star 16 Cygni A is so far away that its gravitational perturbation seems not to be enough to eject this planet, although Pluto-like worlds orbiting at 40-100 AU may have more complex orbits. For Sirius A and B, you will not be able to have stable planet orbits close to either of these stars, and the only possibility is for one to be found much further away orbiting BOTH of the stars at the same time. The manner in which such a planet formed would have to be very different than for planets around isolated stars.


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald

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