Detectability of Earth-like Planets in Circumstellar Habitable Zones of Binary Star Systems with Sun-like Components

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the potential for detecting Earth-like planets in habitable zones of binary star systems, especially alpha Centauri, by providing analytical tools and discussing how stellar interactions influence detectability.

Contribution

It introduces analytical expressions for signals and probabilities of detecting terrestrial planets in binary systems, highlighting how stellar interactions can aid detection.

Findings

Radial velocity and astrometric signals can be analytically estimated.

Stellar interactions may enhance planet detectability.

Detectability of Earth-like planets in alpha Centauri is feasible with current methods.

Abstract

Given the considerable percentage of stars that are members of binaries or stellar multiples in the Solar neighborhood, it is expected that many of these binaries host planets, possibly even habitable ones. The discovery of a terrestrial planet in the alpha Centauri system supports this notion. Due to the potentially strong gravitational interaction that an Earth-like planet may experience in such systems, classical approaches to determining habitable zones, especially in close S-Type binary systems, can be rather inaccurate. Recent progress in this field, however, allows to identify regions around the star permitting permanent habitability. While the discovery of alpha Cen Bb has shown that terrestrial planets can be detected in solar-type binary stars using current observational facilities, it remains to be shown whether this is also the case for Earth analogues in habitable zones. We provide analytical expressions for the maximum and RMS values of radial velocity and astrometric signals, as well as transit probabilities of terrestrial planets in such systems, showing that the dynamical interaction of the second star with the planet may indeed facilitate the planets detection. As an example, we discuss the detectability of additional Earth-like planets in the averaged, extended, and permanent habitable zones around both stars of the alpha Centauri system.