Astronomers scared of ever-brightening star

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | June 1, 2004

[NYer]

Julius Caesar might have said he was as constant as the northern star, but it wasn't much of a boast. Over the past two millennia, the star Polaris has brightened by 250 per cent, astronomers announced today.

And they can't explain why.

"It should not be getting that bright that fast," said Edward Guinan, an astronomer at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. "It's not behaving as expected. It's kind of scary."

Scientists knew that Polaris was inconstant but in a different way. About every four days, the star increases and decreases ever so slightly in brightness.

But the new work is the first to examine the star's overall brilliance during the past 2,000 years. Guinan and his colleagues scoured ancient literature, reading star catalogues back to the one compiled by Ptolemy in the second century.

By comparing those studies to modern observations, the astronomers measured the true brightness of Polaris. The team reported its findings in Denver at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society.

[Constitution Day]

We're doomed.

[Cyber Liberty]

It's obviously the ozone hole....

/sarcasm

[nuconvert]

Are we DOOMED??

[cripplecreek]

Stellar warming?

[jigsaw]

That bright light in the tunnel is just the other en... uh oh ... it's getting bigger and brighter!

[Truth666]

June 5, 2004 - just weeks after March 17, as the closest recorded approach to Earth from an asteroid, previously set on December 2003, was reduced to 45,000 km or to one third; just weeks after April 16, as Bradfield T4, the largest comet ever recorded breaking into the the inner solar system, surprisingly appeared in SOHO to be plunging into the sun, just days after being discovered; after two major comets were visible with naked eye in the southern hemisphere ... it's now the turn of Venus to enter the scene. This time as expected and yet for all of the population of Earh, now more than 10 times larger than the last time, it is the first time they see it plunging into the sun.
This is year 2004 after Christ and the big numbers trick doesn't work anymore.

[Constitution Day]

[tje]

Women and minorities hit hardest...

[HEY4QDEMS]

It's obviously SUV's....or it could be George Bush's fault.

[Strategerist]

A badly-written article and headline, the astronomer quoted didn't mean it was "scary" in terms of fearing for his safety regarding Polaris, it was just an expression for doing something unexpected and not well understood.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Over the past two millennia, the star Polaris has brightened by 250 per cent, astronomers announced today.

Hmmm, since when have our scientists developed time machines so that they could go back 2,000 years to measure the intensity of Polaris?

This story belongs in the "Junk Science Announcement of the Day" catagory. It is as stupid as scientists finding a rock in Antartica and announcing that it came from Mars without a single shred of evidence.

[AD from SpringBay]

"It's not behaving as expected. It's kind of scary."

Best explanation of how to upset a liberal that I've heard in a long time.

[Rippin]

Ptolemy's radiometric tools were aweseome. I'm sure that 250% figure is right on the money.

[Sloth]

But the new work is the first to examine the star's overall brilliance during the past 2,000 years. Guinan and his colleagues scoured ancient literature, reading star catalogues back to the one compiled by Ptolemy in the second century.

And found reliable 2,000-year-old measurements of star brightness in units that we can compare with? Yeah, right.

[Strategerist]

A time machine isn't necessary, there's this thing known as "writing" and, astonishingly, people 2,000 years ago could actually WRITE DOWN things they observed, and we can read them today. Neat, huh?

Obviously precise measurement wasn't possible back then, but with multiple records of brightness (especially compared to other stars) you can do a decent guesstimate of brightness changes.

[new cruelty]

Guinan?

neat.

[Jonah Hex]

See? SEE?!? It must be because of Gloval... I mean... Global Warming! We're doomed, DOOMED I TELL YOU!!!

(/Art Bell mode off)

[evets]

It's Bush's fault. What did he know, and when did he know it.

[The Other Harry]

Scientists knew that Polaris was inconstant but in a different way.

Junk science, badly-written, and worse.

How, pray tell, does a star be inconsistent in a different way?