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Sharks Rule, Rule (slrpnk.net)

I actually fact checked this and it's true.

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[-] DrinkMonkey@lemmy.ca 45 points 1 year ago

It is partly true. Polaris is in fact a triple star system. The youngest of the three stars (Polaris Aa) is indeed younger than sharks at between 45 and 67My old. It is in tight orbit with Polaris Ab which is 500My old, and Polaris B which is 1.5By old and a little bit farther away. Here’s a pic from Hubble:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Polaris_alpha_ursae_minoris.jpg

[-] Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net 32 points 1 year ago

I feel cheated that the north star is in fact 3 stars.

[-] DrinkMonkey@lemmy.ca 14 points 1 year ago

Me too. It’s a sick fact. Sharks are still older than trees tho…

[-] Gabu@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Happens a lot. Sometimes a "star" is actually a whole galaxy.

[-] stockRot@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Fun fact: the morning Star (first star we see in the morning) is in fact also the evening star (first Star we see in the evening). It's also not a star; it's just Venus.

[-] tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip 2 points 1 year ago
[-] 1847953620@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

what a rollercoaster.

[-] DrinkMonkey@lemmy.ca 9 points 1 year ago

I think it’s also worth mentioning that Polaris Aa, the youngest star in the triplet, is also the brightest by 3 orders of magnitude. Without Polaris Aa, we wouldn’t actually consider it as the North Star at all…so I think you are safe to continue using this as a fact.

Go blow some people’s minds, everyone!

[-] AlijahTheMediocre@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

I want to know how three stars can form as a system at very different times. Shouldn't they have similar ages?

[-] DrinkMonkey@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

My understanding is that, on a cosmic scale, these timeframes are not tremendously different!

this post was submitted on 08 Nov 2023
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