August 23, 2010 PASADENA, Calif. -- Tight double-star systems
might not be the best places for life to spring up, according to
a new study using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The
infrared observatory spotted a surprisingly large amount of dust
around three mature, close-orbiting star pairs. Where did the
dust come from? Astronomers say it might be the aftermath of
tremendous planetary collisions. "This is real-life science
fiction," said Jeremy Drake of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics, Cambridge, Mass. "Our data tell us that
planets in these systems might not be so lucky -- collisions
could be common. It's theoretically possible that habitable
planets could exist around these types of stars, so if there
happened to be any life there, it could be doomed." Drake is the
principal investigator of the research, published in the Aug.19
issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters. The particular class
of binary, or double, stars in the study are about as snug as
stars get. Named RS Canum V