The existence  of a world with a double sunset, as portrayed in the film Star Wars more  than 30 years ago, is now scientific fact. NASA's Kepler mission has  made the first unambiguous detection of a circumbinary planet -- a  planet orbiting two stars -- 200 light-years from Earth.

Unlike Star  Wars’ Tatooine, the planet is cold, gaseous and not thought to harbor  life, but its discovery demonstrates the diversity of planets in our  galaxy. Previous research has hinted at the existence of circumbinary  planets, but clear confirmation proved elusive. Kepler detected such a  planet, known as Kepler-16b, by observing transits, where the brightness  of a parent star dims from the planet crossing in front of it.

"This discovery  confirms a new class of planetary systems that could harbor life,"  Kepler principal investigator William Borucki said. "Given that most  stars in our galaxy are part of a binary system, this means the  opportunities for life are much broader than if planets form only around  single stars. This milestone discovery confirms a theory that  scientists have had for decades but could not prove until now."

See the webside for more details:http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/news/kepler-16b.html （SY）