Fraser
2005-Dec-13, 07:31 PM
SUMMARY: The brightest star in the nighttime sky is Sirius, aka the Dog Star. But did you know it has a white dwarf companion called Sirius B? Unfortunately, the light from this burned out star is washed out by Sirius' brilliant glow. Astronomers have been able to use the Hubble Space Telescope's sensitive instruments to isolate the light from Sirius B and measure its mass by how its gravity bends light emitted from the star. Even though it's only 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) across, Sirius B has 98% of the mass of our Sun.
View full article (http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/dog_star_companion.html)
What do you think about this story? post your comments below.
View full article (http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/dog_star_companion.html)
What do you think about this story? post your comments below.