The two brightest components, Gl 667 A and Gl 667 B, are separated by an average distance of about 12.6 AU, but have an eccentric orbit, which takes them as close as about 5 AU, or as far as 20 AU. The orbit takes approximately 42.15 years to complete. The orbital distance translates to an average separation of 1.8".
Gl 667 C orbits further out, between about 56 and 215 AU, equating to an angular separation of about 30".
I know there was an article that was mentioned in another thread on here about tidal locking for K classes (while I agree that tidal locking would be an issue for M class red dwarfs, I'm skeptical about it on K class), but I'm wondering if a planet orbiting one of those two would be tidally affected by the companion star? I have no idea if it would, the effect might even be negligible, but it's a thought.
D = 0.0483((AM²)/d)^(1/6)where D is the distance required for a planet to tidally lock (AU), d is the density of the planet (kg/m^3), A is the age of the system (y), and M is the mass of the star (suns). The original link says density should be measured in tons per cubic decimeter (t/dm^3). Do not use this: it will not give you the right numbers.
Wow.
Anyways, what about the affects from other bodies in the system? Should we consider that? Tidal locking doesn't neccesarily rule out life and yea the current HZ assumes Terran-like lifeforms. Someplace much colder with liquid of some other kind such as Titan for example could very well evolve complex life forms.
Okay, how about a sufficiently large moon or possibly for SuperEarths, two or more moons that are big enough to have a significant impact? Or would that just accelerate tidal locking rather than keep it at bay? I'm not real sure on the mechanics of that.
Given the effect that our moon had on the Earth, logic would be that it would accelerate the process, but I don't know if it would keep it bay somehow.
Anyways, we've been talking about tidal locking in single star planetary systems, what about binaries in a close orbit of hours or days? I don't know if anybody has tried simulating tidal locking in that situation and the article I mentioned earlier didn't say anything about binaries. Given that many binaries would be of differing mass stars (as in the system mentioned here, although this one isn't a close binary), the differing amount of tidal force might be enough to not tidally lock a planet in the habitable zone.
Gy? Do you mean billion years?
Given the vast variety of planetary orbits, combinations, etc, it could be possible for such planet-moon systems to exist for periods long enough for life to evove, even if they are very rare.
What about the close in binaries? The increased amount of energy could push back the HZ, making tidal locking less of an issue and the mass difference or even just the wobble could have an effect on tidal locking.
I tested with a red dwarf pair (actually one was more of an orange color, but they were both M class), so I don't really know for sure the effects on the HZ of K or G class close orbiting binaries.
I was talking about binaries with different masses, most binaries have stars of unequal mass. The dynamics would be different there.