Alien life has higher chance of thriving around binary star systems, claims new research

The chances of finding extraterrestrial or alien life are highest around exoplanets orbiting binary stars, says new research published by experts from the University of Copenhagen. Binary star systems consist of two stars wherein both of them are orbiting each other with exoplanets around both of them.

So far, nearly half of all sun-sized stars have been found to be binary and orbiting a common centre of mass, the experts noted in their study published in the journal Nature.

Planets around binary stars vs lone stars

The research was conducted based on the observations made using the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) telescopes in Chile. The ALMA telescopes studied a young binary star that is about 1,000 light-years from Earth and exists in a system dubbed NGC- 1333-IRAS2A which is surrounded by a disc of gas and dust. Scientists believe that planetary systems around binary stars are a preferred target because planets orbiting them are very different from planets orbiting a single star. 

In addition to the data gathered by the ALMA telescopes, the University experts also complemented their research with computer simulations that helped them peer both backward and forwards in time. "The observations allow us to zoom in on the stars and study how dust and gas move towards the disc. The simulations will tell us which physics are at play, and how the stars have evolved up till the snapshot we observe, and their future evolution,” the second study author Rajika L. Kuruwita said in an official report. 

The experts noted, however, that the movement of gas and dust does not follow a continuous pattern and that the churning disk would result in a much brighter star. They suggested that since the stars orbit each other, their gravity also affects the surrounding dust causing huge amounts of material to fall toward the stars. It is these processes of the tearing up and building of the disc which influence the structure of the later planetary system around these stars. 

Comets could be building blocks of life: Study

Notably, the stellar system scientists observed is too young to have planets around them so the team hopes to obtain more observational time at ALMA. However, they have suggested that comets slamming into the planets might also act as building blocks of life. "Comets often have a high content of ice with the presence of organic molecules. It can well be imagined that the organic molecules are preserved in comets during epochs where a planet is barren and that later comet impacts will introduce the molecules to the planet’s surface", the experts noted in their study.