The Nemesis Hypothesis
Nemesis is a theoretical second sun in our solar system, a dwarf star named after the Greek goddess of vengeance. In the English vocabulary the word nemesis has come to mean downfall, or ruin, and surely nothing good can result from a celestial body bearing this moniker. According to some, Nemesis will indeed bring about our ruin one day by setting in motion an extinction event that will wipe us off the face of the Earth.
Proponents of the Nemesis theory say it has happened before.
In fact, every twenty-six million years the Earth has a little problem.
Some horrible and mysterious catastrophe brings about a mass extinction, destroying a large percentage of life on the planet and altering the balance of nature.
It happened with the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. It’s happened since. In fact, it happens reliably, about every twenty-six million years. The question is not if the Earth will see another cataclysmic extinction, but when.
This pattern of destruction baffled paleontologists, until science began to consider causes not of this world. Astronomers arrived at the Nemesis Hypothesis, a theory that says our Sun has an evil little brother called Nemesis who orbits at a great distance.
Every twenty-six million years the orbit of Nemesis brings it through the Oort cloud, a mass of comets and debris out on the far reaches of space. Nemesis disrupts the comets, sending them hurtling toward the inner planets on a rain of destruction that can last decades. Comets smash into Earth and cause these mass extinctions at a regular and predictable rate.
Nemesis may not have the same size and power as our Sun, and it's not likely to come anywhere near the Earth, but it has enough of a push to cause havoc from afar. The concept of Nemesis is chilling to say the least, the stuff of nightmares. So what are the chances that Nemesis really exists, and if Nemesis does come calling is there anything we can we do about it?
Proponents of the Nemesis theory say it has happened before.
In fact, every twenty-six million years the Earth has a little problem.
Some horrible and mysterious catastrophe brings about a mass extinction, destroying a large percentage of life on the planet and altering the balance of nature.
It happened with the dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. It’s happened since. In fact, it happens reliably, about every twenty-six million years. The question is not if the Earth will see another cataclysmic extinction, but when.
This pattern of destruction baffled paleontologists, until science began to consider causes not of this world. Astronomers arrived at the Nemesis Hypothesis, a theory that says our Sun has an evil little brother called Nemesis who orbits at a great distance.
Every twenty-six million years the orbit of Nemesis brings it through the Oort cloud, a mass of comets and debris out on the far reaches of space. Nemesis disrupts the comets, sending them hurtling toward the inner planets on a rain of destruction that can last decades. Comets smash into Earth and cause these mass extinctions at a regular and predictable rate.
Nemesis may not have the same size and power as our Sun, and it's not likely to come anywhere near the Earth, but it has enough of a push to cause havoc from afar. The concept of Nemesis is chilling to say the least, the stuff of nightmares. So what are the chances that Nemesis really exists, and if Nemesis does come calling is there anything we can we do about it?
Where is Nemesis?
Nobody has ever seen Nemesis, nor has it been located using current technology.
Theoretically, this is because Nemesis is a red or brown dwarf, a star with very little brilliance, which explains why it is so hard to detect.
You might think it would be easy to spot an extra sun in our own solar system, but a dark object out there among millions of other dark, moving celestial bodies is hard to track. Even with our advanced technology and powerful telescopes, Nemesis has yet to reveal itself.
Some astronomers are currently hard at work trying to locate Nemesis using calculations based on past extinctions. They think they know where to look, but they haven’t spotted it as of yet. The use of infrared technology may help. The heat of a dim star will be easier to see in infrared than it would with the naked eye.
But does it even make sense that there could be two suns? How likely is it that there could be a second star in our solar system, even if it is undetected?
The theory of a second sun in our solar system is not as bizarre as it might sound.
Binary star systems (two stars orbiting the same center of mass) are quite common. In fact, Alpha Centauri, our solar system’s nearest neighbor, is a binary system. Astronomers estimate that around half of all stars in our galaxy have at least one companion. Therefore, the existence of Nemesis would not be surprising at all, at least statistically.
Theoretically, this is because Nemesis is a red or brown dwarf, a star with very little brilliance, which explains why it is so hard to detect.
You might think it would be easy to spot an extra sun in our own solar system, but a dark object out there among millions of other dark, moving celestial bodies is hard to track. Even with our advanced technology and powerful telescopes, Nemesis has yet to reveal itself.
Some astronomers are currently hard at work trying to locate Nemesis using calculations based on past extinctions. They think they know where to look, but they haven’t spotted it as of yet. The use of infrared technology may help. The heat of a dim star will be easier to see in infrared than it would with the naked eye.
But does it even make sense that there could be two suns? How likely is it that there could be a second star in our solar system, even if it is undetected?
The theory of a second sun in our solar system is not as bizarre as it might sound.
Binary star systems (two stars orbiting the same center of mass) are quite common. In fact, Alpha Centauri, our solar system’s nearest neighbor, is a binary system. Astronomers estimate that around half of all stars in our galaxy have at least one companion. Therefore, the existence of Nemesis would not be surprising at all, at least statistically.
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