Astronomers image distant Dark Star

[andy lloyd]

Astronomers image distant Dark Star


It may be 50 light years away, but astronomers have succeeded in
directly imaging a brown dwarf companion orbiting the sun-like star
named GJ 758 (1). At least, that's what they think it is. The planet
lies at 29 AU from its parent star (about the same distance as
Neptune from the Sun), and is only 600F - which is a very low
temperature for a brown dwarf (2). It may be as low as 10 Jupiter
masses, which would bring it into the category of sub-brown dwarf.
Its distance is proving to be a headache for astronomers:

"The fact that such a large planet-like object might be orbiting at
this location defies traditional thinking on how planets form,
McElwain said. Astronomers think most large planets form either closer
to or farther away from stars, but not in the location where GJ 758 B
is now.


"This challenging but beautiful detection of a very low mass companion
to a sun-like star reminds us again how little we truly know about the
census of gas giant planets and brown dwarfs around nearby stars,"
said Alan Boss, an astronomer at the Carnegie Institution for Science
in Washington, D.C., who was not involved in the research.
"Observations like this will enable theorists to begin to make sense
of how this hitherto unseen population of bodies was able to form and
evolve."" (1)


But things may not be quite as they seem:

"Telescope images also revealed a second companion to the star, which
the scientists have called GJ 758 C. More observations, however, are
needed to confirm whether it is nearby or just looks that way. 'It
looks very promising,' said Christian Thalmann, one of the team's lead
scientists. If it should turn out to be a second companion, he said,
that would make both of them more likely to be young planets rather
than old brown dwarfs, since two brown dwarfs in such close proximity
would not remain stable for such a long period of time." (2)


If confirmed, GJ 758 B and C might well bang a further hole in current
brown dwarf theory!


If a sub-brown dwarf is orbiting around our own Sun (which I believe
is the case, based upon the anomalous evidence of the outer solar
system), then it is a wide binary object that probably currently lies
between the Kuiper Belt and the inner Oort Cloud.



Written by Andy Lloyd, 7th December 2009



References

1) Space.com staff "First Photo Taken of Object Around Sun-Like Star,
Scientists Say", 3rd Dec. 2009,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20091203/sc_space/firstphototakenofobjectaroundsunlikestarscientistssay
with thanks to Lloyd and Mike

2) Claire Bates "Pictured: First direct image of planet orbiting a
star similar to our Sun"‏4 4th Dec. 2009
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1233263/Exo-planet-photographed-orbiting-star-similar-Sun-time.html#ixzz0YlV0mXLG
with thanks to Mart

[Jacco]

Andy,

Quite disturbing if true, this. Moreover, there have been careful suggestions that the Kozai principle isn't all that solid a principle either. If that turns out to be true as well, then that opens a wide variety of possibilities, most of which are not pleasant options to consider.

Best regards,
Jacco

-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: andy lloyd [mailto:andy...@hotmail.com]
Verzonden: maandag 7 december 2009 13:11
Aan: Dark Star Planet X
Onderwerp: Astronomers image distant Dark Star

star similar to our Sun"?4 4th Dec. 2009

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1233263/Exo-planet-photographed-orbiting-star-similar-Sun-time.html#ixzz0YlV0mXLG
with thanks to Mart

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[Andy Z]

An excellent point, Jacco.  Let's say that GJ 758 B and C are both confirmed as companions of the parent star 50 light years away from us.  Two brown dwarfs existing within 30AU would raise major issues about how such a system could have remained stable over any length of time.  This system does not appear to be very young, so it seems unlikely that the proposed brown dwarf B is in fact a much younger, smaller light-emitting planet.  This appears to be the 'get-out' clause if GJ 758 C was found to be a companion BD too.
 
If GJ 758 B and C are both BDs, then the Kozai effect is in trouble.  The implication is that a BD could well move through the solar system regularly without causing chaos (which was Hills' judgement back in the mid-eighties, when the Nemesis concept was explored using supercomputer models).  That would open up the Planet X debate considerably!  I'm not saying that Planet X is here right now, but it would mean that it could have moved through the solar system in the historical past, as a visible object, without dismantling the orbits of the other planetary objects.

Many thanks,

Andy Lloyd

Author of "The Dark Star"(2005) and "Ezekiel One" (2009),
published by Timeless Voyager Press

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