title: Transiting circumbinary planets Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b.
abstract: Most Sun-like stars in the Galaxy reside in gravitationally bound pairs of stars (binaries). Although long anticipated, the existence of a 'circumbinary planet' orbiting such a pair of normal stars was not definitively established until the discovery of the planet transiting (that is, passing in front of) Kepler-16. Questions remained, however, about the prevalence of circumbinary planets and their range of orbital and physical properties. Here we report two additional transiting circumbinary planets: Kepler-34 (AB)b and Kepler-35 (AB)b, referred to here as Kepler-34 b and Kepler-35 b, respectively. Each is a low-density gas-giant planet on an orbit closely aligned with that of its parent stars. Kepler-34 b orbits two Sun-like stars every 289 days, whereas Kepler-35 b orbits a pair of smaller stars (89% and 81% of the Sun's mass) every 131 days. The planets experience large multi-periodic variations in incident stellar radiation arising from the orbital motion of the stars. The observed rate of circumbinary planets in our sample implies that more than ∼1% of close binary stars have giant planets in nearly coplanar orbits, yielding a Galactic population of at least several million.
authors.affiliation: Astronomy Department, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, California 92182, USA. wfw@sciences.sdsu.edu
authors.forename: William F
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authors.forename: Jennifer R
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authors.lastname: Holman
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authors.lastname: Howell
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authors.lastname: Isaacson
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authors.lastname: Marcy
authors.forename: Tsevi
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authors.lastname: Shporer
authors.forename: Jason H
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mesh_terms: D005118:Extraterrestrial Environment / Q000737:chemistry; D016083:Planets; D013026:Space Flight; D018531:Spacecraft; D055609:Stars, Celestial