(clickable)
Posted on 12/09/2012 1:56:24 PM PST by BenLurkin
In fact, the North Star—also called Polaris—is 30 percent closer to our solar system than previously thought, at about 323 light-years away, according to an international team who studied the star's light output.
Using Russia's 6-Meter Telescope, the researchers were able to calculate the North Star's distance from our solar system by analyzing its spectrum of light and obtaining data on its temperature and changes in intrinsic brightness over time.
That significantly revises the previously accepted value of 434 light-years, which was obtained by the European star-mapping satellite Hipparcos in the 1990s.
Known to fade and brighten over a four-day period, this celestial beacon of true north is considered the closest and brightest member of a class of stars called Cepheids that change in brightness over time.
The new results also located nearly a half dozen stars that appear to be surrounding the North Star and show signs that they have all once belonged to the same star cluster, which has now dispersed.
"This system is known to contain two other stars in addition to the Cepheid stars, but there may be yet another unseen object orbiting Polaris ... a massive orbiting planet for example," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
I thought it looked closer than 434 light-years away.
:~ )
No wonder I get lost all the time. I’ve been correcting for 434 light-years of parallax, not 323 light-years.
But if anyone else comes along and asks a question, it's -- "Hey, you moron! This is settled science! This is beyond dispute! Don't tell me what you believe -- I've got facts!"
That is, until they find new facts and have to change the science again. But it's OK. That's how science is done.
Disgusting ain’t it ?
How much did that satellite cost? How could it have made an error that large? What else did it measure wrong?
If it blew up today, would we see it in our lifetime?
Yeah, but how far away is Nibiru now (Planet-X) ??!
TEOTW is just days away....
A mathmatical error or it’s racing toward the blue marble. The sky is falling and the Mayans were right, oh no!
“I’ve been correcting for 434 light-years of parallax, not 323 light-years.”
Annual or diurnal?
Crap. Now I have to readjust my whole life.
On the other hand, the fact this comes from a Russian source makes me a bit suspicious. If the light from Polaris is 323 years old, it started on its way here in the year 1689--the first year of the reign of Peter the Great. If Polaris is 434 light-years away, on the other hand, the light started on its way here in 1578, a year when the Russians were defeated by the Swedes.
May be some Russian chauvinism involved.
Well, if you are alive 323 years from today, yep, you would see it.
Better eat your oatmeal.
Did you adjust for Starlight Savings Time?
According to my calculations it is 347 light years away.
lol.
Pass out the plastic BRD catching bags
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