Teegarden’s Star: A nearby red dwarf with two rocky planets
Dan WildWhile Teegarden’s Star is rarely talked about at dinner parties, it’s only a matter of time. Why? Two words. Habitable planets. At only 0.09 solar masses, Teegarden is a very small star. With less than 1/10th the mass of the sun, Teegarden is lucky to be a star at all – any less mass and …
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The Luhman 16 twins: Why brown dwarfs are cool
Dan WildIf you’ve heard of Luhman 16AB then I salute you. And if you haven’t, then I despair at the state of astronomy education in schools today. What? They don’t teach astronomy at school? Well, if they did, how would your teacher explain Luhman 16AB? “Today we’re going to talk about brown dwarfs, stellar objects that …
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You can’t be Sirius? Actually, I’m Sirius B
Dan WildSirius is really two stars. A faint white dwarf, Sirius B, is locked in a dance with Sirius A, and it takes 50 years for them to orbit each other. Sirius B used to be a big guy: it was once a red giant. Except it doesn’t have quite the same mass as Betelgeuse, a …
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