Sirius and companion... from hubblesite.org
Posted on 01/10/2006 5:16:00 AM PST by mlc9852
WASHINGTON - Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope have revealed something just as constant as the North Star: a hidden companion.
Astronomers now have photographic proof that Polaris, as the bright star and navigational aid is formally called, has two stellar companions.
The first, Polaris B, has been known since 1780 and can easily be seen with even a smaller telescope; the presence of the second, Polaris Ab, has been inferred but eluded direct detection because it was close to Polaris and relatively faint.
The North Star is a super-giant more than 2,000 times brighter than the sun, while its newly photographed second companion is a dwarf star just 2 billion miles from it, astronomers said. They presented the results Monday at the 207th meeting of the American Astronomical Society
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Menage a trois?.........
I've never heard Hillary referred to as the "North Star."
She's definitely a gravity well..........
The part about "super giant" lost me. Two thousand time brighter than the sun? Is reflected light brighter than the source? Shirley someone has the answer? Spelling on porpoise.
The light from Polaris is not reflected light from our own sun. It is a star and generates its own light. In the case of Polaris, it is a "Super Giant" star, meaning that it is very large compared to our sun (we tend to use our sun as a metric for measuring other things). It also generates 2,000 times more light than our sun. Tell me you had a brain cramp or something because this stuff is obvious.
"2 billion miles from it"
Local gravitational deformity of time/space must be cone shaped.........
So... how many jiggawatts is that?
I'm certainly no expert on the stars, but
even my Greatkid's 5th grade science book
explains that Polaris only holds the
North Star position for approximately
14,000 years. Then its significance as
the Pole Star is replaced by Vega,
a star some distance away from Polaris'
"seeming" position. These two stars
alternate in the great scheme of things.
Guess even Science has to adjust to our
changing universe and reconsider its
findings every few centuries.
Astronomical ignorance is bliss. I can find the North Star, Orion and a few others. Don't even have an astronomy merit badge. As my pappy used to say, Son, we can't take care of what we got, why do we need to go to the moon?
Moon, reflected light, brighter than any star, as to visual light on earth. See, this stuff is easy.
I learn something new on here every day. Thanks.
The North Star is a variable. It's brightness changes noticeably on about a five day cycle...
Ummm....all of them.
From Gerry Rafferty's "Right Down the Line":
I know how much I lean on you
Only you can see
The changes that I've been through
Have left a mark on me
You've been as constant as a northern star
The brightest light that shines
It's been you
Woman
Right down the line
I like that.
Of course, it's the pointing direction of the earth's axis which is changing. The stars themselves are staying where they are :-) I am sure *you* knew that but just in case we have any lurkers from DU...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precession#Precession_of_the_equinoxes
Sirius and companion... from hubblesite.org
Of course, you're right. That's what I
implied with "seeming" change in the
stars' movements. Thanks for clarification.
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