BREAKING NEWS: Most Stars Are Single

Sooner or later, the typical astronomy enthusiast learns a shocking truth:
most star systems are double or triple, with two or three stars orbiting one
another. Thus, our single Sun is in the minority. Now, however, an
astronomer in Massachusetts says this "truth" is false--because most star
systems in the Galaxy are in fact single. For the full story, see
http://KenCroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html.

Correct email: MagnificentUniverse "at" yahoo "dot" com.

Magnificent Universe wrote:
Sooner or later, the typical astronomy enthusiast learns a shocking truth:
most star systems are double or triple,

Make that..."wonderful truth"...if you like double stars, that is. ;-)

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of _Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope_
and _The Urban Astronomer's Guide_

Like SCTs and MCTs?
Join the SCT User Mailing List.
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/sct-user

See my home page at
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland/index.htm
for further info

For Uncle Rod's Astro Blog See:
http://journals.aol.com/rmollise/UncleRodsAstroBlog/

"Magnificent Universe" wrote in message
...
Sooner or later, the typical astronomy enthusiast learns a shocking truth:
most star systems are double or triple, with two or three stars orbiting
one
another. Thus, our single Sun is in the minority. Now, however, an
astronomer in Massachusetts says this "truth" is false--because most star
systems in the Galaxy are in fact single. For the full story, see
http://KenCroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html.


I could never fathom the idea that most were twosomes or threesomes.
I have been vindicated.

On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 23:04:36 GMT, "EP Guy" wrote:

I could never fathom the idea that most were twosomes or threesomes.
I have been vindicated.

In a sense, however, that hasn't changed. What has changed is that we
are now aware that dim little stars are far more common than anyone
believed. It is those dim ones that are single.

The brighter stars- the ones we've always seen, remain dominated by
multiple systems.

_________________________________________________

Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com

Not surprising with the divorce rate in Hollywood.


EP Guy wrote:

"Magnificent Universe" wrote in message
...
Sooner or later, the typical astronomy enthusiast learns a shocking truth:
most star systems are double or triple, with two or three stars orbiting
one
another. Thus, our single Sun is in the minority. Now, however, an
astronomer in Massachusetts says this "truth" is false--because most star
systems in the Galaxy are in fact single. For the full story, see
http://KenCroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html.


I could never fathom the idea that most were twosomes or threesomes.
I have been vindicated.

Dan McKenna wrote:
Not surprising with the divorce rate in Hollywood.


EP Guy wrote:

"Magnificent Universe" wrote in message
...
Sooner or later, the typical astronomy enthusiast learns a shocking truth:
most star systems are double or triple, with two or three stars orbiting
one
another. Thus, our single Sun is in the minority. Now, however, an
astronomer in Massachusetts says this "truth" is false--because most star
systems in the Galaxy are in fact single. For the full story, see
http://KenCroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html.


I could never fathom the idea that most were twosomes or threesomes.
I have been vindicated.

David Arquette was just up at the pub in Santa Cruz last night (he's
going to be directing a slasher flick in the area in coming months) and
I had little idea who this "star" is. From IMDB he's been hitched up
to Courtney Cox (who was on Friends, a show I never watched) for 6+
years and has a little one with her. Some do bond for a while.

Magnificent Universe wrote:
Sooner or later, the typical astronomy enthusiast learns a shocking truth:
most star systems are double or triple, with two or three stars orbiting one
another. Thus, our single Sun is in the minority. Now, however, an
astronomer in Massachusetts says this "truth" is false--because most star
systems in the Galaxy are in fact single. For the full story, see
http://KenCroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html.

Correct email: MagnificentUniverse "at" yahoo "dot" com.




Planets with Two or More Suns
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/761-2.html

Sam Wormley wrote:
Planets with Two or More Suns
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/761-2.html

It's wonderful that astronomers agree on facts.

At http://kencroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html
we find:

" When Lada works out the numbers, he reaches a conclusion you
" won't find in any astronomy textbook: two thirds of all star
" systems in the Milky Way are single.

And at http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/761-2.html
we find:

" Since an estimated two-thirds of all stars in the Milky Way
" reside in complex groupings, ...

:-)

wrote:
Sam Wormley wrote:

Planets with Two or More Suns
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/761-2.html


It's wonderful that astronomers agree on facts.

At http://kencroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html
we find:

" When Lada works out the numbers, he reaches a conclusion you
" won't find in any astronomy textbook: two thirds of all star
" systems in the Milky Way are single.

And at http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/761-2.html
we find:

" Since an estimated two-thirds of all stars in the Milky Way
" reside in complex groupings, ...

:-)


Time to look at the sources of data!

wrote:

Sam Wormley wrote:
Planets with Two or More Suns
http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/761-2.html

It's wonderful that astronomers agree on facts.

At http://kencroswell.com/MostStarsAreSingle.html
we find:

" When Lada works out the numbers, he reaches a conclusion you
" won't find in any astronomy textbook: two thirds of all star
" systems in the Milky Way are single.

And at http://www.aip.org/pnu/2006/split/761-2.html
we find:

" Since an estimated two-thirds of all stars in the Milky Way
" reside in complex groupings, ...

ISTR reading that something like 95% of naked-eye stars are brighter
than the Sun, but OTOH including the large estimated number of faint
red dwarfs that we can't see from more than a few parsecs away, some
95% of all stars in the Galaxy are *fainter* than the Sun. Clearly
such statistics are very sensitive to the makeup of the population
being sampled.

--
Odysseus