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from the Grumpy-got-tired-of-hearing-Sneezy-and-KaPow! dept.
When white dwarf meets brown dwarf, pow!
In the 1600s, western astronomers were just emerging from centuries of medieval thought, when the heavens were thought to be unchanging. You can imagine their astonishment when – in July of 1670, in what had been a blank, dark sky – some observers witnessed a bright pinprick of light that appeared, faded, reappeared, and then disappeared entirely from view. At that time, astronomers called such an event a nova or new star. This one was located in front of the constellation Cygnus the Swan and so received the name Nova sub Capite Cygni (a New Star below the Head of the Swan). Modern astronomers have learned it wasn't a new star. It wasn't even a spectacular collision of two main-sequence stars, as announced in 2015. Instead, using data from the ALMA telescope in Chile, astronomers now believe the event was a collision between an aging white dwarf star and a brown dwarf (star with too little mass to ignite thermonuclear fusion and thereby shine as most stars do).
The object in question is now called CK Vulpeculae.
The new work is based on observations with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) in northern Chile. The astronomers studied the debris from this explosion, which takes the form of dual rings of dust and gas resembling an hourglass with a compact central object (see image at top). Sumner Starrfield of Arizona State University is a co-author on a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. He said in a statement:
It now seems what was observed centuries ago was not what we would today describe as a classic 'nova.' Instead, it was the merger of two stellar objects, a white dwarf and a brown dwarf. When these two objects collided, they spilled out a cocktail of molecules and unusual isotopes, which gave us new insights into the nature of this object.
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by c0lo on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:01AM (10 children)
Context, magister, context. Learning needs one, and S/N is not a good one for TMB.
In his mind, he controls this space. An authoritarian never learns from the subjects under his authority, learning from the master is what's expected from them subjects.
Do you get it yet, subject aristarchus?
If that amuses you, by all means. Otherwise, see above.
You give the TMBians too much credit They are bruces themselves and love the bliss of simple-mindness.
They may even become aggressive if you try to shake them out from this state.
Maybe there is - most of the people around me mocked the stupidity of those trolled.
But then again, what the hell do I know about others?
Maybe there is [bbc.com], maybe there isn't [wikipedia.org] (I used an oldish event to show the undercurrents aren't a recent acquisition)
Fortunately, things like droughts and catastrophic floods and bush fires inject some doses of reality in the public mindset.
Yes it is. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, get off when you can't enjoy it any more.
Trying to change the mindset of authoritarians who feel they have something to demonstrate is a waste of time. They know they are right, this is a settled matter for them. Too bad if it is not so for you and me or anyone else, not their problem.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by aristarchus on Thursday October 18 2018, @07:23AM (4 children)
"Subject aristarchus"? Surely you know that #Freearistarchus!!! is snark. I am free, and have always been, being a Greek and a scholar and whatnot. But I can recommend my strategy for escaping the authoritarians, of whom we have had our lot in Greece, from Polycrates on Samos, to Pisistradus in Athens, and Alexander over us all, and many domestic and foreign rulers throughout time: don't die! I have escaped many tyrants by outliving them. But more importantly, I have freed my mind, so that the longevity strategy was not really even necessary.
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Thursday October 18 2018, @10:20AM (1 child)
Just the place... I have said it thrice:
What I tell you three times is true.
See? The truth is easy and will set you free.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @02:10PM
See, magister? On this site even the hunting for the snark is considered redundant. Oh, the agony in a fyte.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 19 2018, @01:29AM (1 child)
We're on to your secrets of immortality! I'll bet you regularly consume shrooms [wikipedia.org]!
(Score: 2) by aristarchus on Saturday October 20 2018, @10:20AM
Making decisions based on faulty probabilities, and believing that tax cuts create economic growth and even higher tax revenues, is how most previous civilizations have fallen. Bet ya, ha! One born every minute.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 18 2018, @10:12AM (4 children)
If I controlled this space there would be a lot more pictures of boobs.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Thursday October 18 2018, @10:39AM (3 children)
(◡)(◡) or ◎γ◎?
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Informative) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday October 18 2018, @12:02PM (1 child)
( o Y o )
I love big-uns best.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @02:03PM
✦⃝Y✦⃝
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 18 2018, @02:41PM
Goddammit I hate unicode!