The new view shows that there is still a "sun" in the solar system, which is the companion star of the sun
There is still a "sun" in the solar system
This is an amazing find! At a distance of 86.8 light-years from the earth, there is a sun-like star called HD4712B. Its mass is similar to that of the sun, only about 1.02 times that of the sun, which also makes this star and the sun similar to the sun. The same, is a yellow dwarf.
However, unlike the sun, the star HD4712B has a significantly longer lifespan than the sun. According to current estimates, its age is between 7 billion and 10 billion years old, which also means that the star HD4712B is about to enter life. At the end of , through its research, it may be possible to reveal the future direction of the sun.
In the past research on the star HD4712B, scientists did not think that this star had a companion star. However, according to an observational study some time ago, scientists were surprised to find that there was a companion star around the star HD4712B. , but this companion star is extremely dim and is a brown dwarf.
So, what is a brown dwarf? From a scientific point of view, brown dwarfs are also called failed stars. Their mass is too small to cause the core to be ignited, but it exceeds the mass limit of the planet, so brown dwarfs become a kind of intermediate position. The "embarrassing" celestial body is neither a star nor a planet.
Scientists collectively refer to brown dwarfs as "substars". Their masses are generally between 13 and 80 times the mass of Jupiter. At the same time, the surface also has a temperature, but it cannot ignite the core.
There is such a brown dwarf star around the star HD4712B, and the researchers said that although only a companion star of the star HD4712B has been confirmed, it is very likely that there is another brown dwarf around the companion star.
According to reports, the mass of the companion star around the star HD4712B is about 68 times that of Jupiter. At the beginning, scientists once thought that this companion star was a white dwarf star, because 50% of the star systems in the Milky Way are binary star systems. Therefore, the star HD4712B may also have another stellar companion and completed the evolution of life earlier than it. But subsequent research has shown that this is not the case.
So, since the star HD4712B has an invisible companion, does it mean that there is also a companion star in the solar system? Will the mystery of scientists' research on the companion star of the solar system for many years be revealed through the study of the star HD4712B?
Does the solar system also have a companion star?
There is a view that there may be a solar companion star about 1 light-year away from the sun, and the periodic mass extinction on the earth may be due to the companion star approaching the earth every tens of millions of years. related.
Through modeling and analysis, it is very likely that there is a companion star in the solar system, and this companion star should be a very small red dwarf star, or a brown dwarf star, just like the companion star of the star HD4712B.
However, in the past few decades, although scientists have been hoping to find this companion star, but there has been no result. In the 1980s, NASA once said that it had found a solar companion, but soon announced again that it was an observational error.
So, assuming this companion star really exists, where does it come from? We all know that the solar system was born in a nebula, and generally speaking, a nebula will not give birth to only one star. If the distance between the stars is close enough, they will be attracted by each other's gravitational attraction. Multiple star system.
Therefore, if the sun really has a companion star, then this companion star is likely to be born with the sun. Of course, there is also another possibility that when it passes through the solar system, it is affected by gravity and captured by the solar system. In addition, there is also a view that the reason why humans cannot find this companion star of the solar system may also be that it has left the solar system.
Speaking of which, as early as the mid-19th century, scientists' research on the solar system was not as detailed as it is today, and they had already passed Newton's first law and discovered that the orbits outside the solar system were abnormal. Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, etc. are all in They were discovered during this process, but their existence cannot explain the orbital anomalies.
Especially with the study of the star systems around the solar system, scientists found that the stars around the solar system generally have companion stars. If the sun does not have a companion star, it would be strange. Therefore, these seem to prove that the sun may also have a companion star. However, no one has found it.
As for why it has not been discovered, there is a view that this may be because the companion star of the solar system is a brown dwarf, so existing optical telescopes cannot find it, after all, the outer solar system is a very dark environment.
If it really exists, then when NASA's James Webb Space Telescope can be launched as scheduled this year, it may be possible to see the outer side of the solar system through it in the future. Let's wait and see!
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