I have a problem clicking on Gizmodo ever since I read an article on what was essentially a moto perpetuo machine presented as a breakthrough. Do we have a better source for the news?
A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
31–40 of 93 posts
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#32Do large, bright stars ever pass that close? What would that look like?
The truly large bright stars don't really "live" long enough in that state to travel great distances on an astronomical scale, and if there was one in our area we'd be in trouble[1].
Large stars smaller than that but large enough to be significantly bright would probably look a lot like a planet, but long-term could also be bad for us if they were close enough and massive enough to even slightly destabilize orbits - the impact might take thousands of years to truly materialize, but climate change has nothin' on orbit change.
Also, anything both large/bright enough to be easily visible AND headed in our direction would likely have been noticed at this point. It may happen someday, but the descendants of the cockroaches are the ones who'll have to deal with it.
[1] http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/supernove-distance
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#33Do large, bright stars ever pass that close? What would that look like?
> Do large, bright stars ever pass that close? Yes, but it's extremely rare. > What would that look like? Not much. The Scholz flyby was at 0.6-0.8 light years, the same order of magnitude as the distance to Alpha Centauri. It would just look like a star, probably not even a particularly bright one.
The rate at which it was drifting with respect to the other stars might have been noticeable under long-term observations. 20 ly in 70k years means its doing about 85 km/s. At its point of closest approach, 0.6 ly, this translates to 1 radian per 2100 years, or 1 degree per 37 years. (The full moon is 1/2 a degree.) The Scholz star was too dim to see, but a brighter star following its trajectory would have noticeably moved in a constellation over the course of a human lifetime.
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#34Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually perhaps it's better that way. Otherwise they could base some superstitious thinking on it that would stick if we were unlucky enough and there'd be yet another case of irrational thinking to be undone.
I have never been able to understand why so many other scientists and "rationalist" look back on humans early "superstitious" ideas with contempt. To my mind these superstitious ideas are the beginning of the rationalist mindset. These ideas are people's attempts to explain and understand how the world works. I am certain that some of the ideas that many of us hold now will be thought quite silly in a few hundred yea…
> am certain that some of the ideas that many of us hold now will be thought quite silly in a few hundred years.
Yes, like the theory that we're actually living in a simulation, espoused by Elon Musk and other respected, ostensibly science-minded people.
It's basically Creationism in modern form.
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#35I'll take this opportunity to recommend Universe Sandbox[1], which is pretty cheap on steam and worth every penny.
Turning on projected orbital lines in an N-body simulation of our solar system and seeing what happens when you toss a star in there is really enlightening... the rings all shift in tandem in a visceral way that really helps me "feel" what happens.
There's a simulation that comes out of the box that simulates the circumstances of the book "Nomad" (I haven't read the book) where a small solar-mass rogue black hole drifts past the solar system at high speed. With orbital path projections turned on you get to watch all the paths shift like wobbling hula hoops as the unseen object drifts past. Most orbits remain stable but very deeply shifted from where they were (earth's aphelion ends up far out where Jupiter was, with its perihelion much closer than before...)
The effects described in the article are obviously less extreme, but the game helps me get a sense of just how perilous our planetary orbits are and how vulnerable to outside influences they can be.
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#36I was going to ask if perhaps ancient humans saw this new red star and if it drove them to an elevated state of being superstitious and chaos but: >When Scholz’s Star was in the neighborhood, it would have been a 10th magnitude star (red dwarfs are very dim). That’s about 50 times fainter than what can be seen with the naked eye at night. Under normal circumstances, it would be invisible. But because red dwarfs are m…
"Artist’s depiction of a spear-wielding human gazing up at Scholz’s Star — a scene that probably never happened, given the red dwarf’s low luminosity."
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#37Oddly close to the time recursive language is supposed to have emerged, a la https://bit.ly/2G2CvjQ
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
Actually perhaps it's better that way. Otherwise they could base some superstitious thinking on it that would stick if we were unlucky enough and there'd be yet another case of irrational thinking to be undone.
I have never been able to understand why so many other scientists and "rationalist" look back on humans early "superstitious" ideas with contempt. To my mind these superstitious ideas are the beginning of the rationalist mindset. These ideas are people's attempts to explain and understand how the world works. I am certain that some of the ideas that many of us hold now will be thought quite silly in a few hundred yea…
I would suggest that any contempt of early superstitious ideas has to do with the fact that many live on today.
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have never been able to understand why so many other scientists and "rationalist" look back on humans early "superstitious" ideas with contempt. To my mind these superstitious ideas are the beginning of the rationalist mindset. These ideas are people's attempts to explain and understand how the world works. I am certain that some of the ideas that many of us hold now will be thought quite silly in a few hundred yea…
> am certain that some of the ideas that many of us hold now will be thought quite silly in a few hundred years. Yes, like the theory that we're actually living in a simulation, espoused by Elon Musk and other respected, ostensibly science-minded people. It's basically Creationism in modern form.
It is an interest idea and a great starter for philosophical thinking, but no-one is treating it like literal gospel.
Re: A Visiting Star Jostled Our Solar System 70,000 Years Ago
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
> am certain that some of the ideas that many of us hold now will be thought quite silly in a few hundred years. Yes, like the theory that we're actually living in a simulation, espoused by Elon Musk and other respected, ostensibly science-minded people. It's basically Creationism in modern form.
It is an interest idea and a great starter for philosophical thinking, but no-one is treating it like literal gospel.
>It is an interest idea and a great starter for philosophical thinking, but no-one is treating it like literal gospel.
Of course not. "Gospel" is a religious concept. They're claiming that it's a plausible, scientifically-supportable theory.
I don't think it's an interesting idea at all, nor do I think it's a good starter for philosophical thinking. I think it's Creationist nonsense.