Posted on 07/01/2009 5:17:37 PM PDT by KevinDavis
Two University of Hawaii at Manoa astronomers have found a binary star-disk system in which each star is surrounded by the kind of dust disk that is frequently the precursor of a planetary system. Doctoral student Rita Mann and Dr. Jonathan Williams used the Submillimeter Array on Mauna Kea, Hawaii to make the observations.
A binary star system consists of two stars bound together by gravity that orbit a common center of gravity. Most stars form as binaries, and if both stars are hospitable to planet formation, it increases the likelihood that scientists will discover Earth-like planets.
(Excerpt) Read more at ifa.hawaii.edu ...
(Uh, Institute...'Making' implies a 'Maker' ... so they might just want to use something like 'A Pair of Solar Systems in the Random Chance Development Stage' or something like that)
Certainly this won't be a great place to live as the planets that did exist in that system would have very erratic orbits. Those planets would be swung close by and then far away from each of the two suns resulting in large changes in temperatures.
Maybe some form of virus or bacteria could evolve there, but anything approximating a complex life form would have to evolve under the surface.
How will an atmosphere form?
it took me a moment....i like it...
Can you add me to the ping list. Thanks.
It all depends on the distance. If Jupiter were as close as mars the effects on earth would probably be enough to make earth a very different place.
The orbital mechanics would be pretty much the same if Jupiter were a small sun. When it comes to binary star systems we’re talking about even greater distances.
When we talk about orbiting the sun we really aren’t accurate. Earth, the sun and other planets actually orbit a common gravitational center.
That seems kind of slow. Could that be because of their
still low density of matter that is still increasing?
JJ61
There was a show on TV a day or so ago about Steven Hawking and the universe, etc. Their claim was that we (humans) are that[] close to knowing ALL there is to know. All that’s left to know is why is gravity is so weak?
But even if Hawking and crew figure that one out, I’d like know why do so many people still think Marxism can work?
And if these guesses are wrong, none of us will be around to know it.
It’s gonna be hell as the stars rotate around each other.
Also, by the time an Earth-like planet forms over there, we’ll already have a human team a good clip gone from the Sol System heading over there. Probably in a deep cryo-freeze.
I figure it would help if scientists can get to Absolute Zero in an instant, so astronauts won’t die. The only problem would be getting out of it.
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Hear Ye!
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45 posted on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 12:41:31 PM by Jim Robinson (Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jimrobfr)
I have absolutely no credentials, but I have to say Hawking is wrong on that one. We can’t get to Alpha Centauri in a week’s time, and that kind of technology is a long, long way off.
Also, the way our system is set up it is really a bunch of quasi-independent two-body problems. The effects of the other planets on our orbit with the sun are negligible. If you have two large suns, then with respect to any planet in the system you have a three-body problem which is a whole different ball of wax.
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