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27 Candidate Circumbinary Planets Found Using Eclipse Timing

5/4/2026

Summary

Story summary

Astronomers at the University of New South Wales announced on May 4 that they identified 27 candidate circumbinary planets 650–18,000 light-years away.
They detected them via eclipse timing variations, a technique called apsidal precession, showing that binary star systems—over half of all stars—can host such planets.
Astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb praised the technique and said these worlds could have extreme climates, though a Tatooine-like zone might exist.

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Story summary

Astronomers at the University of New South Wales announced on May 4 that they identified 27 candidate circumbinary planets 650–18,000 light-years away.
They detected them via eclipse timing variations, a technique called apsidal precession, showing that binary star systems—over half of all stars—can host such planets.
Astrophysicist Dr Sara Webb praised the technique and said these worlds could have extreme climates, though a Tatooine-like zone might exist.