This illustration shows a hypothetical planet covered in water around the binary star system of Kepler-35A and B. Astronomers that have been studying a binary star system — one with two baby suns — for over 30 years now believe three separate solar systems are starting to form around them.
The SVS 13 binary star system, which is nearly 1,000 light-years away from the Milky Way galaxy, is still in its embryonic stage but astronomers are starting to see disks of gas and dust taking shape around both stars, according to a study published in The Astrophysical Journal.
SVS 13 is located in the Perseus molecular cloud, which hosts an abundance of young stars, according to NASA. Perseus molecular cloud location. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)Astronomers detected the formation of two circumstellar disks and one "circumbinary disk with prominent spiral arms," according to the study.
These disks contain primordial matter that often forms around new stars and could lead to creating new planets. Both stars combined make up about the same mass as Earth’s sun, according to researchers.How planets form in a two-star solar system is still widely unknown, according to a news release based on the study’s findings. "This outer disk shows a spiral structure that is feeding matter into the individual disks, and in all of them planetary systems could form in the future.