Astronomers have discovered three Earth-sized planets in a binary star system.

An international team of astronomers has confirmed the discovery of three Earth-sized planets in the binary star system TOI-2267, located about 190 light-years from the planet. This was reported on November 12 by Science Daily magazine.

"Our analysis shows a unique arrangement of planets: two planets transit around one star, and the third transits around its companion star. This makes TOI-2267 the first known binary system in which planets transit around both of their stars," said Sebastian Zuniga—Fernandez, a researcher at the University of Liege and the first author of the work.

TOI-2267 consists of two closely interacting stars forming a compact binary system. Usually such conditions create powerful gravitational disturbances that interfere with the formation of planets. However, three Earth-sized planets have been discovered in this system, which casts doubt on previous ideas about the stability of planetary orbits in such conditions.

Co-leader of the study, researcher at the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia Francisco H. Pozuelos clarified that this is the most compact and coldest pair of stars with planets known at the moment. According to him, this is also the first recorded case of planets orbiting both components of the system.

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The first data about the object was recorded by the space telescope of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) TESS. The two planets were identified using the SHERLOCK software tool, after which the data was confirmed by ground—based observatories, primarily the SPECULOOS and TRAPPIST telescopes. These facilities, designed to search for small exoplanets near dim stars, have made it possible to refine the characteristics of new worlds.

"The discovery of three Earth—sized planets in such a compact binary system is a unique opportunity. This allows us to test the limits of the possibilities of models of planet formation in difficult conditions and to better understand the diversity of possible planetary structures in our galaxy," added Zuniga-Fernandez.

Pozuelos, in turn, drew attention to the fact that TOI-2267 is a natural laboratory for studying how rocky planets can arise and persist in extreme conditions where stability was previously considered impossible.

Earlier that day, Science X magazine reported the discovery of a super-powerful "star factory" in the universe. According to the publication, the Y1 galaxy is forming stars at a rate about 180 times faster than the Milky Way. It was clarified that such acceleration could not last long, but scientists believe that such bursts of activity helped young galaxies gain mass quickly.

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