12 replies to this topic

[Waspie_Dwarf]

UKIRT discovers 'impossible' binary stars

phys.org said:

A team of astronomers have used the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope (UKIRT) on Hawaii to discover four pairs of stars that orbit each other in less than 4 hours. Until now it was thought that such close-in binary stars could not exist. The new discoveries come from the telescope's Wide Field Camera (WFCAM) Transit Survey, and appear in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.

About half of the stars in our Milky Way galaxy are, unlike our Sun, part of a binary system in which two stars orbit each other. Most likely, the stars in these systems were formed close together and have been in orbit around each other from birth onwards. It was always thought that if binary stars form too close to each other, they would quickly merge into one single, bigger star. This was in line with many observations taken over the last three decades showing the abundant population of stellar binaries, but none with orbital periods shorter than 5 hours.

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[27vet]

Wow, they must be quite distorted from inertial forces?

[UsefulSoul]

i think there might be something to look into about the precession of gravity.  Maybe Einsttein's theory for the precession of mercury wasn't fully correct.  Surely it has something to do with the gravitational pull being different based on the distance between the stars at a given time.  This is heavy math stuff that I don't know.

[Hawkin]

With discoveries like this, one would think that science would be more receptive to phenomenas no matter how impossible it may seem to be.

[Junior Chubb]

Good to see the 'Impossible' becoming possible.

[marcos anthony toledo]

More crow scientist are force to eat back to the black borads people figure this one out.

[Tyminator]

Maybe this is dumb, but is it possible for the magnetic fields of the two stars to repel each other? If so, the gravity would be pulling them together and thus, combined with the repelling of the magnetic fields, would it be possible for them to become almost suspended close to each other? Like I said, it might be dumb, but this is what I thought of.

Edited by Tyminator, 08 July 2012 - 11:16 PM.

[CRIPTIC CHAMELEON]

Tyminator, on 08 July 2012 - 11:15 PM, said:

Maybe this is dumb, but is it possible for the magnetic fields of the two stars to repel each other? If so, the gravity would be pulling them together and thus, combined with the repelling of the magnetic fields, would it be possible for them to become almost suspended close to each other? Like I said, it might be dumb, but this is what I thought of.

Not sure ? but even the scientists are going back to school on this one. And I think its dumber not to ask a question even if it is wrong /right.

[csspwns]

impossible made possible

[Super-Fly]

American express makes the impossible possible!

[Lava_Lady]

Ryegrog, on 08 July 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

With discoveries like this, one would think that science would be more receptive to phenomenas no matter how impossible it may seem to be.

Really, I agree.  Never say impossible, you never know!

[None of the above]

Tyminator, on 08 July 2012 - 11:15 PM, said:

Maybe this is dumb, but is it possible for the magnetic fields of the two stars to repel each other? If so, the gravity would be pulling them together and thus, combined with the repelling of the magnetic fields, would it be possible for them to become almost suspended close to each other? Like I said, it might be dumb, but this is what I thought of.

Hopefully not a dumb idea, it was the first thing that occured to me as well.
Be nice to know if there is anything else unusual in their 'behavior'?
Rotation speed, precession etc.

[None of the above]

Ryegrog, on 08 July 2012 - 04:34 PM, said:

With discoveries like this, one would think that science would be more receptive to phenomenas no matter how impossible it may seem to be.

Thats the great thing about science and what differentiates it from faith. Science is always introspective, always looking to be proven wrong, always looking to prove the impossible.