Hubble spies close companion to Polaris
Posted: Wed, Jan 11, 2006, 5:52 AM ET (1052 GMT)
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope said this week that they have seen for the first time a small companion star to Polaris. The existence of the star, named Polaris Ab, had been inferred through a detection of a gravitational wobble in Polaris, a supergiant variable star 430 light-years from Earth. The dwarf companion star had not been seen before now, though, because it orbits two billion kilometers from Polaris, a separation of less than 0.2 arcseconds as seen from Earth. Astronomers plan to observe Polaris Ab over the next several years to plot its orbit and determine the mass of Polaris itself. The discovery makes Polaris a triple-star system; a more distant dwarf companion, Polaris B, was discovered over 200 years ago.
Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope said this week that they have seen for the first time a small companion star to Polaris. The existence of the star, named Polaris Ab, had been inferred through a detection of a gravitational wobble in Polaris, a supergiant variable star 430 light-years from Earth. The dwarf companion star had not been seen before now, though, because it orbits two billion kilometers from Polaris, a separation of less than 0.2 arcseconds as seen from Earth. Astronomers plan to observe Polaris Ab over the next several years to plot its orbit and determine the mass of Polaris itself. The discovery makes Polaris a triple-star system; a more distant dwarf companion, Polaris B, was discovered over 200 years ago.| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Saturday, October 24
United States Welcomes Uzbekistan’s Signing of the Artemis Accords
US State Department — 9:56 pm ET (0156 GMT) Kymeta Appoints Former Senior Intelligence Official Elizabeth Kimber to Drive Growth with National Security Partners
Kymeta — 9:55 pm ET (0155 GMT) Zenno Supertorquer Desaturates Reaction Wheels on Impulse Space’s Mira
Zenno Astronautics — 9:53 pm ET (0153 GMT) ArkEdge Space and SSC Space Expand Cooperation Through Ground Segment Agreement and MoU
ArkEdge Space — 9:52 pm ET (0152 GMT) Ranking Members Lofgren and Amo Demand Answers After GAO Report Reveals Trump-Inflicted Damage to America’s Future Weather Satellites
House Science, Space and Technology Committee Democratic Caucus — 9:52 pm ET (0152 GMT) |
