PV Gap

Derek Said:

Can a planet (with life) exist where there are there two suns in it's solar system?

We Answered:

Two suns orbiting each other is called a binary system. They are very common. Almost certainly, most of these binary systems start out with a collection of planets.

The trouble is that life requires billions of years in order to reach any significant stage of development. That means that the planet on which the life is located must be stable for that length of time.

It is exceedingly difficult to find stable orbits for planets in a binary system, because the two stars will tend to distort the orbits of any planets and eventually either throw them into one of the stars or out of the system altogether. Any sufficiently stable orbit will not be in the habitable zone of either star.

Hence it is barely possible that life might get started on a planet in such a system, but will not have planetary conditions stable enough for that life to persist for any significant time. So I am absolutely sure that no significant life has ever evolved in a binary system.

I would suggest getting a planetary system simulator and experimenting with the parameters to get a feel for what happens. Here are some sites that you might like:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_star
http://www.orbitsimulator.com/gravity/ar…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitable_z…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_…

Cheers!