Terrifying

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Message 1806291 - Posted: 1 Aug 2016, 6:32:18 UTC

The terrifying reason this star flickers every two minutes

About 380 light years away in the constellation Scorpius lies a star that has puzzled astronomers for more than 40 years. Called AR Scorpii, the star flashes brightly and fades again every couple of minutes, like a lightbulb on a dimmer switch. Now, astronomers have identified the cause of the flickering, and it's a reminder that the cosmos is still rife with terrifying secrets.

AR Scorpii, previously identified as a single, variable star, is actually two, a compact white dwarf the size of the Earth but 200,000 times more massive, and a cool red dwarf a third the size of the sun.
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Message boards : Science (non-SETI) : Terrifying


 
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