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Star Blasted Through Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
discovery.com ^ | Ian O'Neill

Posted on 02/18/2015 1:11:46 PM PST by BenLurkin

Highlighted by astronomers at the University of Rochester and the European Southern Observatory, the star — nicknamed “Scholz’s star” — has a very low tangential velocity in the sky, but it has been clocked traveling at a breakneck speed away from us.

In other words, from our perspective, Scholz’s star is fleeing the scene of a collision with us.

“Most stars this nearby show much larger tangential motion,” said Eric Mamajek, of the University of Rochester. “The small tangential motion and proximity initially indicated that the star was most likely either moving towards a future close encounter with the solar system, or it had ‘recently’ come close to the solar system and was moving away. Sure enough, the radial velocity measurements were consistent with it running away from the Sun’s vicinity — and we realized it must have had a close flyby in the past.”

...

Using data from the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) and the Magellan telescope at Las Campanas Observatory in Chile, Mamajek and his collaborators were able to measure the star’s spectra and radial velocity. Through these observations they were able to deduce that Scholz’s star is a dim red dwarf approximately 20 light-years away. It is actually part of a binary system, with its partner being a small brown dwarf (or a ‘failed star’).

Taking these data, the researchers were able to model several different orbital possibilities and deduce that the star almost definitely (to a 98 percent certainty) came within 0.8 light years from the sun. Although this is still quite a margin, the star would have careened though the Oort Cloud — a hypothetical region filled with frozen cometary nuclei surrounding the solar system.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.discovery.com ...


TOPICS: Astronomy
KEYWORDS: 70000yearsago; browndwarf; catastrophism; comets; complutense; darkstar; deusexmachina; ericmamajek; gemini; johnmatese; mounttoba; neanderthals; nemesis; oortcloud; oumuamua; reddwarf; scholzsstar; spain; sverrejaarseth; toba; unitedkingdom; uofcambridge; uofmadrid; uofrochester; xplanets
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To: eldoradude
Wonder what the sun traded for Pluto.

All of Mars's water.
21 posted on 02/18/2015 1:58:12 PM PST by SpinnerWebb (IN-SAPORIBVS-SICVT-PVLLVM)
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To: BenLurkin
tar is a dim red dwarf approximately 20 light-years away. It is actually part of a binary system, with its partner being a small brown dwarf

Marx and Engles

22 posted on 02/18/2015 1:59:08 PM PST by spokeshave (He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people,)
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To: doorgunner69
a small brown dwarf (or a ‘failed star’)"

I am sure the author intended a racist and possibly anti-small people insinuation there...............

That's a "gravitationally challenged" for those in Rio Linda.

23 posted on 02/18/2015 2:00:32 PM PST by spokeshave (He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people,)
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To: BenLurkin

As best as I can figure, it passed through at only around 175,000 mph, so should have been a “big show” for many, many years.


24 posted on 02/18/2015 2:00:42 PM PST by The Cajun (Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Mike Lee, Louie Gohmert....Nuff said.)
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To: doorgunner69

Gary Coleman was a small brown dwarf as well as a failed star....


25 posted on 02/18/2015 2:00:47 PM PST by freebilly (Just win, Baby...!)
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To: SpinnerWebb
No ... Mars' water was all blown away by runaway global warming. Or nuclear war. Or something ...
26 posted on 02/18/2015 2:04:18 PM PST by NorthMountain
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To: The Cajun

Even though a dying red dwarf wouldn’t be very bright in the sky it’s gravity should certainly be strong enough to have influence on the solar system.


27 posted on 02/18/2015 2:06:45 PM PST by miliantnutcase
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To: Mr. K

I would say that ‘blew past’ is more descriptive.

One light year = 5.8 TRILLION MILES

One light year = 63241 AU’s

This thing allegedly came within .8 light year.

That is a little over 50,000 times the distance from the Sun to the Earth.


28 posted on 02/18/2015 2:08:23 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: KevinDavis; annie laurie; Knitting A Conundrum; Viking2002; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Mmogamer; ...
"Of possible interest" -- greatest understatement of the decade, I believe! Thanks BenLurkin!
 
X-Planets
· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·
Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·

29 posted on 02/18/2015 2:09:28 PM PST by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: 75thOVI; agrace; aimhigh; Alice in Wonderland; AndrewC; aragorn; aristotleman; Avoiding_Sulla; ...
"Of possible interest" -- greatest understatement of the decade, I believe! Thanks BenLurkin!



30 posted on 02/18/2015 2:09:55 PM PST by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: NorthMountain

it’s VENUS that has the runaway Global Warming that Earth is doomed to repeat unless we all drive Chevy Volts.


31 posted on 02/18/2015 2:10:38 PM PST by SpinnerWebb (IN-SAPORIBVS-SICVT-PVLLVM)
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The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: Flood, Fire, and Famine in the History of Civilization
The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes:
Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization

by Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith


32 posted on 02/18/2015 2:11:05 PM PST by SunkenCiv (What do we want? REGIME CHANGE! When do we want it? NOW!)
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To: miliantnutcase
According to the article, they said it would have been flaring from time to time, so suspect our ancestors would have noticed and at 70,000 years ago, I think they would have been sharp enough to notice.
33 posted on 02/18/2015 2:12:27 PM PST by The Cajun (Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Mike Lee, Louie Gohmert....Nuff said.)
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To: doorgunner69
a small brown dwarf (or a ‘failed star’)"



34 posted on 02/18/2015 2:15:06 PM PST by Eaker (You are really amazing Eaker. - Swordmaker 02/14/15)
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To: SunkenCiv
If you're looking for hardcore nutjobbery, Brandenberg will be hard to beat ...
35 posted on 02/18/2015 2:15:52 PM PST by NorthMountain
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To: NorthMountain
Mars' water was all blown away by runaway global warming. Or nuclear war. Or something ...

However it happened, it was clearly Bush's fault.

36 posted on 02/18/2015 2:18:18 PM PST by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: GodAndCountryFirst

Some clear night soon, go outside and look up. Count the stars.
What you see CANNOT be farther away than the age of the universe, because the light from something cannot take longer to travel from there to here than the universe is old.
That means EVERY STAR must be no more than 10,000 (or whatever age-of-the-universe you claim) light-years away.
Apply what we objectively KNOW about how the universe works (gravity, electromagnetic fields, mechanical physics, etc - all within at least a certain range of absolute certainty).
The result is: the universe we see CANNOT FIT in a 10,000 year old universe.

Remember, 10,000 years is just 100 hundred-year lifespans back-to-back. That ain’t much.

The only “solution” you could provide is “well, God created the light from those stars already traveling toward us” and “God created fossils that _look_ millions of years old to test our faith”.
I reject that, as that would require God lie - creating an illusion of what is when it absolutely isn’t.


37 posted on 02/18/2015 2:19:52 PM PST by ctdonath2 (Si vis pacem, para bellum.)
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To: Mr. K

Well, “through our solar system” was some 0.8 light-years from the Sun. That’s pretty far, and it was a pretty small star. Enough to cause some disruptions, but not tear everything apart.


38 posted on 02/18/2015 2:21:34 PM PST by ctdonath2 (Si vis pacem, para bellum.)
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To: montomike
What you said. Me too.

Late Pleostocene Human Population Bottlenecks. . . (Toba)


39 posted on 02/18/2015 2:28:18 PM PST by blam (Jeff Sessions For President)
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To: ctdonath2

Actually, according to the Bible, light was created before the sun, moon and stars.

However, as for the age of the universe, I defer to science which gives a range that is constantly changing as our methods and understanding grow. There is more to life than we can conceive and humility is lacking on both “sides” of the debate.

The Bible was never meant as a definitive science text, and modern science has become as hide-bound as their caricature of the medieval Catholic Church.


40 posted on 02/18/2015 2:36:07 PM PST by antidisestablishment (When the passion of your convictions surpass those of your leader, it's past time for a change.)
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