Photosynthesis on other worlds

Research at the California Institute of Technology's Virtual Planet Laboratory suggests that if plant life exists on other planets the dominant color of photosynthesis could be yellow, orange, or even red instead of the usual green. The particular color would depend on the type of star(s) the planet which has plant life orbits and the planet's atmosphere, which filters the light. For example there is a bacteria on earth that uses infra-red light in photosynthesis because it lives in murky water where little to no visible light reaches.

This is good news for science fiction, where plant life has often been unimaginative, though H.G. Wells' depiction of red plant life in The War of the Worlds in 1898 is an important exception. Other sci-fi ecosystems of note include Harry Harrison's psychic plants in Deathworld and Alan Dean Foster's silicon based life in Sentenced to Prism.

Press release.

Tatooine like planets may be quite common

In science fiction most solar systems are portrayed as single-star systems, with planets orbiting a single star, much like as in our own solar system. Notable exceptions exist of course, maybe the most famous examples being the six-star system in Isaac Asimov's short story 'Nightfall,' and the double-star (binary) system of Tatooine (where Luke Skywalker grew up).

In reality, binary systems are more common than single-star systems and about one-in-four extra solar planets cataloged orbit around a single star in a binary systems where the stars are relatively far apart, about 1,000 AU. It was not known if planets would form in binary systems where the stars that are close together, about 1~3 AU. Recent observations however, suggest that in these systems planets will form more often than not, making Tatooine like planets a real possibilty.

NASA press release.