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The Mystery of the North Star: Astronomers baffled to find Polaris is getting BRIGHTER
Daily Mail ^ | UPDATED: 16:18 EST, 5 February 2014 | MARK PRIGG

Posted on 02/06/2014 12:11:57 AM PST by ApplegateRanch

Team found that Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than in 137CE Experts say find is 'entirely unexpected'

Astronomers have discovered that Polaris, the north star, is getting brighter. They say the star has suddenly reversed two decades of dimming. It is expanding at more than 100 times the rate they expected - and nobody is sure why.

A team led by Scott Engle of Villanova University in Pennsylvania recalibrated historic measurements of Polaris by Ptolemy in 137 C.E., the Persian astronomer Al-Sufi in 964 C.E., and others. They investigated the fluctuations of the star over the course of several years, combing through historical records and utilising the Hubble Space Telescope. The team found that Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than in Ptolemy's time, which they say is a remarkable rate of change.

'If they are real, these changes are 100 times larger than predicted by current theories of stellar evolution,' says Villanova astronomer Edward Guinan. The team's data also hint that the star's cyclic 4-day variation in brightness, although still weak, is once again growing more robust--but no one knows what's driving these flutterings or how long they will last. Engle and his team began to research the star around the beginning of 2000, when they found that the dropping brightness was on the rise again.

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Astronomy; Science
KEYWORDS: astronomy; catastrophism; edwardguinan; fauxiantrolls; godsgravesglyphs; haltonarp; polaris; ptolemy; stringtheory; xplanets
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To: 6SJ7; AdmSmith; AFPhys; Arkinsaw; allmost; aristotleman; autumnraine; backwoods-engineer; ...
Team found that Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than in 137CE... 'If they are real, these changes are 100 times larger than predicted by current theories of stellar evolution,' says Villanova astronomer Edward Guinan. The team's data also hint that the star's cyclic 4-day variation in brightness, although still weak, is once again growing more robust--but no one knows what's driving these flutterings or how long they will last. Engle and his team began to research the star around the beginning of 2000, when they found that the dropping brightness was on the rise again.


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61 posted on 02/06/2014 4:23:57 PM PST by SunkenCiv (http://www.freerepublic.com/~mestamachine/)
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To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...
Thanks again to AppleGateRanch and null and void, this is a four-list pingworthy topic.
Team found that Polaris is 2.5 times brighter today than in 137CE... 'If they are real, these changes are 100 times larger than predicted by current theories of stellar evolution,' says Villanova astronomer Edward Guinan. The team's data also hint that the star's cyclic 4-day variation in brightness, although still weak, is once again growing more robust--but no one knows what's driving these flutterings or how long they will last. Engle and his team began to research the star around the beginning of 2000, when they found that the dropping brightness was on the rise again.

62 posted on 02/06/2014 4:25:08 PM PST by SunkenCiv (http://www.freerepublic.com/~mestamachine/)
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To: ApplegateRanch; All

Did they ask Dr. Who.....


63 posted on 02/06/2014 4:33:32 PM PST by TMSuchman (John 15;13 & Exodus 21:22-25 Pacem Bello Pastoribus Canes [shepard of peace,dogs of war])
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To: ApplegateRanch

Is it coming this way?


64 posted on 02/06/2014 4:38:40 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: ApplegateRanch; mn-bush-man

You could ruin their day by referring to it as the Christian Era.


65 posted on 02/06/2014 4:39:35 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: MrB

But, when you see “CE”, just say “Christian era”.

**
That’s what I always say.


66 posted on 02/06/2014 4:59:16 PM PST by Bigg Red (O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Ps 8)
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To: fieldmarshaldj

aybe it’s ythological....


67 posted on 02/06/2014 5:01:18 PM PST by Bigg Red (O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Ps 8)
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To: Dutch Boy

“Or it’s getting closer.... OMG.... Bush is going to use the North Star to kill us all!!!”

All of this talk about the Dea - I mean the North Star is stupid. There is nothing to be afraid of.


68 posted on 02/06/2014 5:09:26 PM PST by 21twelve (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2185147/posts 2013 is 1933 REBORN)
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To: ApplegateRanch

Could be anything. A few hundred years ago, a thin dust cloud could have moved between it, and where we would eventually be.


69 posted on 02/06/2014 6:26:31 PM PST by KoRn (Department of Homeland Security, Certified - "Right Wing Extremist")
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To: ApplegateRanch
Astronomers baffled to find Polaris is getting BRIGHTER

"..and Leon's getting laarger."

70 posted on 02/06/2014 6:28:40 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: JoeProBono

How lucky are we to even have a North Star?


71 posted on 02/06/2014 7:16:38 PM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: LoneRangerMassachusetts; SunkenCiv

I heard CE once defined as “Common Error!”


72 posted on 02/06/2014 7:29:41 PM PST by Berosus (I wish I had as much faith in God as liberals have in government.)
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To: MrB

From the scene they cut out of “Monty Python’s Life of Brian”:

1st Shepherd: “Is it A.D. yet?”
2nd Shepherd: “A quarter past . . .”


73 posted on 02/06/2014 7:31:58 PM PST by Berosus (I wish I had as much faith in God as liberals have in government.)
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To: 1010RD
How lucky are we to even have a North Star?

Well the South Star, Sigma Octantis, is so dim that nobody pays attention to it.
74 posted on 02/06/2014 7:34:17 PM PST by Berosus (I wish I had as much faith in God as liberals have in government.)
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To: mn-bush-man
Question from the ignorant here: what does CE stand for?

CE (Common Era) is another way the secularists continue to attempt denial of the significance of the impact Jesus had on our cultures by his birth.

They use "CE" and "BCE" (Before Common Era) instead of "BC" and "AD" as a form of rebellion against established precedent, in order to look good to each other.

I quit caring and CONSCIOUSLY substitute "Before Christ"(NOT BC) and "Apres Dieu" (After G_d) EVERY time I discuss historical dates. It's fun to make the deniers squirm.

75 posted on 02/06/2014 8:58:04 PM PST by Don W (Know what you WANT. Know what you NEED. Know the DIFFERENCE!)
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To: Don W

after reading the thread, I realize that I have been mistaken. I will be using “Anno Domini” from this time forward,

Dang, I LOVE this place!

You must admit, though, apres dieu works pretty good too...


76 posted on 02/06/2014 9:06:35 PM PST by Don W (Know what you WANT. Know what you NEED. Know the DIFFERENCE!)
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To: Berosus

Thanks for the info and how I wish that progressivism were viewed the same way.


77 posted on 02/07/2014 5:07:11 AM PST by 1010RD (First, Do No Harm)
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To: ApplegateRanch

The altitude of Polaris in degrees above the horizon is your latitude. Very helpful.


78 posted on 02/07/2014 8:27:43 AM PST by pabianice (LINE)
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