Planetary orbits in binary stars

Abstract

Numerical integrations of the general three-body problem, with one component having a planetary mass, indicate that stable planetary orbits can exist in binary stars. The limitation for stability is that the ratio of the periastron distance of the outer tertiary component to the semimajor axis of the close component be somewhere in the range 3-4, regardless of which of the components is the planet. For most known binaries, this region of stability includes the region of habitability for planets.