Try GOLD - Free
Is Life More Likely Under Twin Suns?
BBC Sky at Night Magazine
|April 2017
Planetary systems around binary stars may have the advantage when it comes to habitability
-

Earth is a world teeming with life; it fills the oceans, smothers the land and soars through the atmosphere. A vibrant biosphere of microorganisms has permeated deep into the planet, while complex, multicellular life forms such as trees and insects cover the surface. In contrast, none of the other planets in the Solar System appear to be alive.
This story is from the April 2017 edition of BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM BBC Sky at Night Magazine

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Turn mono Sun shots into fiery colour
A simple, free technique to take your solar images from greyscale to gold
3 mins
October 2025
BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Create a striking moonrise composite
Here's how to showcase the Moon's graceful ascent from the horizon
3 mins
October 2025
BBC Sky at Night Magazine
NOVAStar long eye relief planetary eyepieces
Striking views at a pocket-friendly price point? Seeing is believing...
4 mins
October 2025

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
THE SKY GUIDE CHALLENGE
Make a composite that reveals how the Moon's diameter changes over a lunar cycle
2 mins
October 2025

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Create a striking moonrise composite
Here's how to showcase the Moon's graceful ascent from the horizon
2 mins
October 2025

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Q&A WITH A FAST RADIO BURST EXPERT
A significant amount of the Universe's matter from the Big Bang is missing. Now scientists believe they've found it hiding between galaxies
3 mins
October 2025

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Last chance for Titan transits
It'll be 13 years before Titan crosses Saturn again. Here's how to grab shots of it now
3 mins
October 2025

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
Ripples in time
A decade of gravitational wave detections In 2015, a new field of astronomy opened with the very first observation made beyond the electromagnetic spectrum. Elizabeth Todd looks at the milestone and what it meant
8 mins
October 2025

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
How to find a speck in space
New Horizons proves stellar parallax can locate a probe in the vastness, using the light of just two stars
4 mins
October 2025

BBC Sky at Night Magazine
FIRST CONTACT
Seven missions that gave us our first real look at alien worlds
6 mins
October 2025
Translate
Change font size