Monday, January 30, 2006

Solitary Stars

Credit: David A. Aguilar/CfA

In today's Monday Space Mysteries, we find that, contrary to previous thought, Astronomers Had it Wrong: Most Stars are Single.
For more than 200 years, astronomers thought that most of the stars in our galaxy had stellar companions. But a new study suggests the bulk of them are born alone and never have stellar company.

Interesting stuff- go read!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awww.

Do stars have an equivalent of eHarmony?

Actually, seriously, that's quite an interesting development in telling us about how the universe moves. If stars are moving such that they're not orbiting one another, what are they up to, and why?

four legs good said...

I think it has more to do with how star systems form- binary systems aren't as populous as was previously thought.

Mostly they're just brighter, and easier to see.