Trending Now - Astronomers Identify 27 New Tatooine-like Exoplanets

WHO:

Yahoo News Canada - Margo Thorton, a PhD candidate from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), is the author of the study.

The Guardian - Assoc Prof Ben Montet from UNSW is the study’s senior author.

The Guardian - Dr. Sara Webb, an astrophysicist at the Swinburne University of Technology, commented on the research.

WHAT:

Yahoo News Canada - Astronomers have discovered 27 potential circumbinary planets.

Yahoo News Canada - Only 18 circumbinary planets were known before this discovery.

Yahoo News Canada - The new survey identified 27 planet candidates out of 1,590 binary star systems, indicating a nearly 2 percent rate of binary systems that could host planets.

The Guardian - The potential planets range in mass from the size of Neptune to ten times the mass of Jupiter.

The Guardian - The research was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

WHERE:

Yahoo News Canada - The identified star systems are located between 650 to 18,000 light years away from Earth.

WHEN:

The Guardian - The research was published in a timely manner for May 4, also known as Star Wars Day.

WHY:

Yahoo News Canada - The new method used in the study aims to uncover a large population of hidden planets that do not align perfectly with our line of sight.

The Guardian - The study seeks to address the limitations of previous methods that only detected planets when they transit in front of a star.

HOW:

Yahoo News Canada - The researchers used a new method to monitor how binary stars’ orbits change over time, tracking variations in their eclipse schedule.

The Guardian - The method known as “apsidal precession” was employed to search for a wobble between stars that orbit and eclipse each other.

(UPDATED May 4, 2026 15:37 UTC)

Astronomers have made a groundbreaking discovery by identifying 27 potential circumbinary planets, significantly increasing the known count from just 18. This research, led by PhD candidate Margo Thorton and senior author Associate Professor Ben Montet from the University of New South Wales, utilized a new method to track changes in binary stars' orbits, revealing a nearly 2 percent rate of binary systems that could host planets. The findings, which range from Neptune-sized to ten times the mass of Jupiter, were published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and highlight a fresh approach to uncovering hidden planets that may not align with our line of sight.