Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet

Laurance R. Doyle; Joshua A. Carter; Daniel C. Fabrycky; Robert W. Slawson; Steve B. Howell; Joshua N. Winn; Jerome A. Orosz; Andrej Prˇsa; William F. Welsh; Samuel N. Quinn; David Latham; Guillermo Torres; Lars A. Buchhave; Geoffrey W. Marcy; Jonathan J. Fortney; Avi Shporer; Eric B. Ford; Jack J. Lissauer; Darin Ragozzine; Michael Rucker; Natalie Batalha; Jon M. Jenkins; William J. Borucki; David Koch; Christopher K. Middour; Jennifer R. Hall; Sean McCauliff; Michael N. Fanelli; Elisa V. Quintana; Matthew J. Holman; Douglas A. Caldwell; Martin Still; Robert P. Stefanik; Warren R. Brown; Gilbert A. Esquerdo; Sumin Tang; Gabor Furesz; John C. Geary; Perry Berlind; Michael L. Calkins; Donald R. Short; Jason H. Steffen; Dimitar Sasselov; Edward W. Dunham; William D. Cochran; Alan Boss; Michael R. Haas; Derek Buzasi; Debra Fischer

doi:10.1126/science.1210923

Research Article

Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet

Laurance R. Doyle¹,*,
Joshua A. Carter²,
Daniel C. Fabrycky³,
Robert W. Slawson¹,
Steve B. Howell⁴,
Joshua N. Winn⁵,
Jerome A. Orosz⁶,
Andrej Prˇsa⁷,
William F. Welsh⁶,
Samuel N. Quinn⁸,
David Latham⁸,
Guillermo Torres⁸,
Lars A. Buchhave⁹,¹⁹,
Geoffrey W. Marcy¹¹,
Jonathan J. Fortney¹²,
Avi Shporer¹³,¹⁴,
Eric B. Ford¹⁵,
Jack J. Lissauer⁴,
Darin Ragozzine²,
Michael Rucker¹⁶,
Natalie Batalha¹⁶,
Jon M. Jenkins¹,
William J. Borucki⁴,
David Koch⁴,
Christopher K. Middour¹⁷,
Jennifer R. Hall¹⁷,
Sean McCauliff¹⁷,
Michael N. Fanelli¹⁸,
Elisa V. Quintana¹,
Matthew J. Holman⁸,
Douglas A. Caldwell¹,
Martin Still¹⁸,
Robert P. Stefanik⁸,
Warren R. Brown⁸,
Gilbert A. Esquerdo⁸,
Sumin Tang⁸,
Gabor Furesz⁸,¹⁰,
John C. Geary⁸,
Perry Berlind²⁰,
Michael L. Calkins²⁰,
Donald R. Short²¹,
Jason H. Steffen²²,
Dimitar Sasselov⁸,
Edward W. Dunham²³,
William D. Cochran²⁴,
Alan Boss²⁵,
Michael R. Haas⁴,
Derek Buzasi²⁶,
Debra Fischer²⁷

¹Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
²Hubble Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
³Hubble Fellow, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
⁴NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
⁵Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
⁶Department of Astronomy, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182–1221, USA.
⁷Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Villanova University, 800 East Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.
⁸Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
⁹Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹⁰Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.
¹¹Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
¹²Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.
¹³Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117, USA.
¹⁴Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
¹⁵211 Bryant Space Science Center, Gainesville, FL 32611–2055, USA.
¹⁶Department of Physics, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA.
¹⁷Orbital Sciences Corporation/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
¹⁸Bay Area Environmental Research Institute/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.
¹⁹Konkoly Observatory, Konkoly ut 15-17, Budapest, H-1121, Hungary.
²⁰Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Amado, AZ 85645, USA.
²¹Department of Mathematics, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.
²²Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics, Post Office Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA.
²³Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.
²⁴McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
²⁵Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA.
²⁶Eureka Scientific, 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602, USA.
²⁷Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.

↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: ldoyle{at}seti.org

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Science 16 Sep 2011:
Vol. 333, Issue 6049, pp. 1602-1606
DOI: 10.1126/science.1210923

Laurance R. Doyle

Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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For correspondence: ldoyle@seti.org

Joshua A. Carter

Hubble Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Daniel C. Fabrycky

Hubble Fellow, Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.

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Robert W. Slawson

Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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Steve B. Howell

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Joshua N. Winn

Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.

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Jerome A. Orosz

Department of Astronomy, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182–1221, USA.

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Andrej Prˇsa

Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Villanova University, 800 East Lancaster Avenue, Villanova, PA 19085, USA.

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William F. Welsh

Department of Astronomy, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182–1221, USA.

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Samuel N. Quinn

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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David Latham

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Guillermo Torres

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Lars A. Buchhave

Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.

Konkoly Observatory, Konkoly ut 15-17, Budapest, H-1121, Hungary.

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Geoffrey W. Marcy

Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

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Jonathan J. Fortney

Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA.

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Avi Shporer

Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117, USA.

Department of Physics, Broida Hall, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.

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Eric B. Ford

211 Bryant Space Science Center, Gainesville, FL 32611–2055, USA.

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Jack J. Lissauer

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Darin Ragozzine

Hubble Fellow, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Michael Rucker

Department of Physics, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA.

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Natalie Batalha

Department of Physics, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA.

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Jon M. Jenkins

Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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William J. Borucki

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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David Koch

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Christopher K. Middour

Orbital Sciences Corporation/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Jennifer R. Hall

Orbital Sciences Corporation/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Sean McCauliff

Orbital Sciences Corporation/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Michael N. Fanelli

Bay Area Environmental Research Institute/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Elisa V. Quintana

Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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Matthew J. Holman

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Douglas A. Caldwell

Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, SETI Institute, 189 Bernardo Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.

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Martin Still

Bay Area Environmental Research Institute/NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Robert P. Stefanik

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Warren R. Brown

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Gilbert A. Esquerdo

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Sumin Tang

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Gabor Furesz

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Centre for Star and Planet Formation, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, DK-1350 Copenhagen, Denmark.

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John C. Geary

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Perry Berlind

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Amado, AZ 85645, USA.

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Michael L. Calkins

Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Amado, AZ 85645, USA.

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Donald R. Short

Department of Mathematics, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA 92182, USA.

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Jason H. Steffen

Fermilab Center for Particle Astrophysics, Post Office Box 500, Batavia, IL 60510, USA.

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Dimitar Sasselov

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

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Edward W. Dunham

Lowell Observatory, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA.

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William D. Cochran

McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.

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Alan Boss

Carnegie Institute of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA.

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Michael R. Haas

NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA.

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Derek Buzasi

Eureka Scientific, 2452 Delmer Street, Suite 100, Oakland, CA 94602, USA.

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Debra Fischer

Department of Astronomy, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA.

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Abstract

We report the detection of a planet whose orbit surrounds a pair of low-mass stars. Data from the Kepler spacecraft reveal transits of the planet across both stars, in addition to the mutual eclipses of the stars, giving precise constraints on the absolute dimensions of all three bodies. The planet is comparable to Saturn in mass and size and is on a nearly circular 229-day orbit around its two parent stars. The eclipsing stars are 20 and 69% as massive as the Sun and have an eccentric 41-day orbit. The motions of all three bodies are confined to within 0.5° of a single plane, suggesting that the planet formed within a circumbinary disk.

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Kepler-16: A Transiting Circumbinary Planet

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