Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comNewfound brown dwarf locked in close orbit around its host
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And we have only just begun to search the universe, imagine what we will find 50 years from now.
Typo in the 4th paragraph from the bottom. Says "block our excess starlight" maybe should say "block out excess starlight"?
I start to think people like you and I ought to be getting paid to be the editors around here.
Another interesting find by that wonderful group of telescopes at Paranal Chile. The newfangled adaptive optics system has really made earth-based observations so much clearer, but nothing beats the space telescopes that have no atmosphere to degrade the sight level. Interesting how two stars have become grounded to each other, obviously one formed first and captured the other when they were both still in a stellar nursery. With time the astronmers will see even smaller objects around distant stars, hopefully they'll find and see some earth sized planets in my remaining lifetime.
Reading an article like this is a great, fun break from the usual stuff we see about dreary politics that are always followed by a cacophony of posts that make you want to beat your face against a wall. Thanks!
Jupiter could be our solar system's brown dwarf / failed star if you think about it. It's gigantic, mostly gas, and emits far more energy than it receives from the sun. Of course if considered as such, then Jupiter’s failure to become a star was exponentially greater than that of other brown dwarf objects we detect. But with slightly different conditions during formation our solar system might have been a mirror image of the one described above.
There's a large scale difference, but in essence you're right. In a sense, all gas giants are failed stars, but Jupiter came closest in our system.
Of course, the top question we're all asking (and probably won't be able to answer for quite a while) is what else is in the system that may bear resemblance to our own. ;)
So in the next million years or so the companion brown dwarf's orbit takes it too close to it's sun, entering its hotter phase, and boom the dwarf shears into many pieces. Allowed to cool over the next million years or so and through the gravitational forces of the sun many planets could form. From there who knows intelligent life could develop in that solar system, a first for the universe or at least the Milky Way.
And pray that there's intelligent life somewhere out in space,
'Cause there's bugger all down here on Earth!
Well, a life form has to have at least some intelligence to even be able to question it's own species intelligence. A psychologist once observed that what separates humans and possibly a few other creatures from the rest is not in being aware- even cockroaches are aware. It is in being aware of being aware. And with that kind of awareness comes self-doubt. This is why truly intelligent people so often doubt their own knowledge, while the less mentally gifted walk around thinking they've got everything figured out. LOL.
I agree whole heartedly.
The beauty of space never ceases to amaze me:)
Why would the Sumerians lie?
The govt knew about planet x for a long time
http://video.godlikeproductions.com/video/John_Moore_Global_Warming_Audio_Fixed
well, guess that's one system we can scratch off the "potentially life-harboring" list.
Don't be so sure. The universe is a funny thing some times.
I couldn't agree more, Mechazawa. My interest in science has maintained my perspective and sanity by getting my consciousness out of this earthbound worldview. When people ask me why I like science so much, I don't know how to reply- I guess you either like it or you don't. I can't blame the school systems, because I went to a really rotten set of schools (Prince Georges County, Maryland in the 50's and 60's had an almost comically awful school system) but most of my friends and I grew up with an abiding interest in everything in the universe and how it all worked. Maybe there is a, as yet unidentified, science gene.
I live in Prince Georges County and I have been taught by God that Satan has taken over most of the public schools that you mention. And now you have to home school your children to keep them believing in God; and to get a good education that you want them to have. However, astronomy is something that should be taught in all schools; and when you become an adult; you should still be interested in the stars and astronomy. And the wormwood star; is talked about in Revelation the 8th chapter. That will be the end-time star (comet or meteor) that will strike the Earth as one of Gods great plagues upon the evil ones.
The article contains some really interesting information, but the writing is sub-par. There were quite a few phrases that were so poorly worded I had to go back and read them a second time to make sure I understood the article. I'm honestly not writing this comment up to be a troll, or give off a 'holier-than-thou' attitude, but I really think the author needs to re-read this article, or the website needs a better editor.