Link between Brian Aldiss's Heliconia books and Kepler 22b

Question

There's an article in the Guardian with Brian Aldiss claiming "I was there first" about the discovery of Kepler 22b. I've read the books, however the article doesn't make clear on what grounds Aldiss was there first.

Is it merely that he imagined an earth-like planet hundreds of light years aweay (in which case many other people have too); or is there a direct parallel?

I believe Kepler is a two star system, like the Heliconia books. The key feature in those books however was that the planet Heliconia has a 'normal' year around the first star Freyr, however both are in a 5000 year orbit around the other star Batalix, which gives rise to 1000 year seasons as Heliconia enters Summer and then back out to Winter from an eccentric oribt of Batalix. Does the Kepler system have this nature too?

Answer 1

I don't believe Aldiss is making a serious claim, rather he's just using a (mildly) sensationalist headline.

I see nothing to suggest a direct parallel:

• As far as I know, Kepler 22 (Kepler 22b's sun) does not orbit another sun.
• Kepler 22b has a year around 290 Earth days long, whereas Helliconia's "small year" is 480 days.
• Keppler 22 is a G5-type star, whereas Batalix is a G4.
• No information is yet known about the shape of Keppler 22b's orbit, although many extrasolar planets have highly elliptical orbits.
• Helliconia is only a little larger than Earth (1.28 Earth masses), whereas Keppler 22b could easily be 36 Earth masses, or even 124 Earth masses.
• Helliconia has an axial tilt of 35 degrees, but Keppler 22b's is around 90 degrees.
• Helliconia is around 1000 light years from Earth, whereas Keppler 22b is around 600 light years away (whether or not this is 'close' depends on your point of view!).