http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/22756444.html
Regulus’s Secret Companion
The bright star Regulus, shining in Leo 77 light-years away, has long befuddled astronomers. It's not the brightness that puzzles them — though Regulus does emit more ultraviolet and X-rays than models predict. The problem is its spin.
Like many stars of spectral type B (i.e. hot, massive, and young), Regulus rotates much faster than it should, especially considering that it's already about halfway through its (short) hydrogen-fusing lifetime. In fact Regulus spins only 15% below the speed at which it would start to fly apart. This rapid rotation causes Regulus to bulge out around the middle. The result is a star that's not spherical, but oblate.
The shape and size of Regulus compared to the Sun (smaller yellow circle). Regulus's size and shape were measured directly in 2003 and verified in later observations.
S & TUntil recently scientists could only speculate on what causes Regulus's zealous spinning. Astronomers know that a star can speed up if it is a member of an interacting binary system — a close binary whose stars transfer material. In these systems, one star may blow off a heavy stellar wind that blankets its companion in extra mass. In other cases, one star overflows the edge of its gravitational well and spills a thin stream of gas down onto the other. In each the gas hits the star like water from a hose hitting the edge of a ball. The water makes the ball spin; in the case of the receiving star, the stream causes the star to "spin up."
Can someone help me try to understand how this "Stuff" can be seen as factual or practical!!!
What gibberish.
Ignorance was bliss, thanks to this website my eyes have been opened and every thing I read is filtered through the filter of truth
Thanks
Regulus’s Secret Companion
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Re: Regulus’s Secret Companion
Would not a very fast rotating star be the likely candidate to view
a planet birthing ? Perhaps Regulus A has just given birth ! Maybe a
star will split before our eyes someday.
Mo
a planet birthing ? Perhaps Regulus A has just given birth ! Maybe a
star will split before our eyes someday.
Mo
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