Transiting Circumbinary Planets in the Era of Space-Based Photometric Surveys

Abstract

Planets orbiting binary stars—circumbinary planets—play a paramount role in our understanding of planetary and stellar formation and evolution, dynamical interactions in many-body systems, and the potential for habitable environments beyond the Solar System. Each new discovery holds immense value and inherent fascination both for the astronomical community and for the general public. This is perhaps best demonstrated by the 1500+ citations of the discovery papers for the 14 known transiting circumbinary planets and the dozens of related press-releases in major news outlets. This article reviews the observational and theoretical aspects related to the detection and confirmation of transiting circumbinary planets around main-sequence binaries from space-based surveys, discusses the associated challenges, and highlights some of the recent results.