A team of international researchers has announced a groundbreaking finding: three planets, comparable in size to Earth, are orbiting the tight binary star system known as TOI-2267. This system is situated roughly 190 light-years away from our planet. The details of this significant discovery were published in the journal *Astronomy & Astrophysics* on October 24, 2025, opening up new avenues for understanding how planets form and achieve stability in environments containing two stellar bodies. This finding challenges long-held assumptions about the prerequisites for planetary formation, particularly in dynamically complex settings.
The TOI-2267 system presents a dynamically challenging setting, as its two stars orbit each other in extremely close proximity, creating a gravitationally strained environment. Conventional wisdom in astrophysics long suggested that such intense tidal forces should effectively impede the accretion and stability of planetary structures. Nevertheless, the successful detection of three rocky worlds, all moving along relatively short orbital paths, casts serious doubt on established paradigms concerning planetary evolution. What makes this system particularly compelling is the unique orbital architecture documented by the research team. They observed a rare phenomenon: two of the planets transit directly in front of one star, while the third planet performs a transit across the face of its companion star. This specific configuration establishes TOI-2267 as the first known binary system where planets have been successfully observed transiting both stellar components.
The identification of these worlds relied heavily on data acquired by the NASA TESS satellite, complemented by the use of the specialized data analysis software named SHERLOCK, which was developed specifically for this type of complex detection. Sebastián Zúñiga-Fernández of the University of Liège, the lead author of the study, emphasized the profound scientific utility of the discovery, stating that this system serves as an invaluable testing ground for verifying the limits of current planet formation models under such complex stellar configurations. Co-author Francisco J. Pozuelos characterized TOI-2267 as nothing less than a natural laboratory for investigating the survival mechanisms of rocky planets within conditions of extreme stellar dynamics, providing crucial insight into how these worlds manage to cling onto existence.
Beyond its distinct and challenging architecture, TOI-2267 holds additional records: it is currently known as the most compact and, according to certain measurements, the coldest binary system discovered that hosts orbiting planets. This finding does more than simply expand the exoplanet catalog; it fundamentally broadens our comprehension of which cosmic configurations are capable of supporting the stable existence of worlds, pushing the boundaries of habitability zones and formation theories. Looking ahead, researchers plan to leverage the advanced capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for a detailed analysis of the planets' characteristics. This future work will include precise measurements of their mass and density, and potentially an investigation into the chemical composition of their atmospheres, offering clues about their origins and long-term stability.