Tiny sun found in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune

[eridu43]

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j453/Doug_Farrell/MiniSun.jpg

New weirdness. A tiny sun with tiny planets orbiting our sun. The dark things that look like propellers are shadows cast by the demi-sun.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/10/-weird-propeller-shaped-object-discovered-in-the-outer-reaches-of-the-kuiper-belt.html

[Lord Sidious]

There is another one out there too, with at least one planet in orbit of it.
And like a lot of things turning up here lately, is part of my workshop.

[buckminster fuller]

read the article, has nothing to do with a sun...

[Davidallany]

There is another one out there too, with at least one planet in orbit of it.
And like a lot of things turning up here lately, is part of my workshop.

Very good my Lord.

[eridu43]

read the article, has nothing to do with a sun...

True. In the article they call it an hour-glass shaped object, or two (fried) eggs placed together. The observation that the center glowing bit looks like a small sun comes from me. I see the similarities to a tiny solar system. Look at the picture from the article. Each of the objects circling the center have their own discrete orbital path. The article however, does say the glowing in the center of this object triples in brightness every seven hours. It, like our, sun is a point of illumination in the darkness of space. Is it such a great leap to suggest it is a small sun?

[panopticon]

G'day All,

Buckminster Fuller is completely correct. 2001QG298 is not a second sun.

The object in question was briefly discussed here a few weeks ago:
Extreme and Extremely Tilted Kuiper Belt Object (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?31975-Extreme-and-Extremely-Tilted-Kuiper-Belt-Object).

While there are many interesting arguments, like Andy Lloyd's Brown Dwarf hypothesis (http://projectcamelotproductions.com/interviews/andy_lloyd/andy_lloyd.html), that suggest we are in a binary system, this has nothing to do with it.
^Update^

The article however, does say the glowing in the center of this object triples in brightness every seven hours. It, like our, sun is a point of illumination in the darkness of space. Is it such a great leap to suggest it is a small sun?
eridu43, the article states (http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/10/-weird-propeller-shaped-object-discovered-in-the-outer-reaches-of-the-kuiper-belt.html):

"The object is so distant that we cannot resolve its shape. But this brightness oscillation, called a lightcurve, reveals the strange shape of 2001QG298 as it spins round. The object appears faint at times because one lobe is hidden behind the other, so less area is reflecting sunlight. As the hidden component rotates back into view, we can see the full hour-glass shape. The reflecting area increases and the whole thing looks brighter," explains Lacerda.
I read this as meaning that the object becomes brighter and dimmer as the surface area visible from Earth (that reflecting the Suns light) increases and diminishes in its (the objects) rotation, not that it was providing its own light.

Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

[eridu43]

Well Panopticon, I hate to admit it, but we're both right. Kuiper Belt Object 2001QG298 is not a small sun, and the object illustrated in the article we've both been quoting is indeed a solar system. The confusion comes from the fact that the illustration is not a depiction of KOB 2001QG298, but instead is an artistic rendering of our solar system in earlier days. D'oh! (Complete with hand to head.)
I was prepared to defend my assertion that the illustration did indeed look like a sun with planets in orbit by showing the following picture, complete with annotations to show how the "glowing bit in the center" was indeed a source of illumination. Notice if you will, members of the jury, the many shadow paths fanning out from the central hub...
http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j453/Doug_Farrell/Comparison.jpg
Now, however I humbly stand corrected. KOB in actuality looks more like a dumbbell than a star, and so unfortunately do I.
Best,
Doug

[panopticon]

G'day eridu43,

Don't worry about it.
I rarely load images so I didn't see the one you're referring to 'til now.
You're completely right, very misleading.

Many media sites use staple pictures that have nothing to do with the article and this shows how misleading these images can be.
Most people look at the pictures to get an over view of the article (that is meant to be the reason why an image is attached to an article after all!) however I've found that images can pre-condition readers to content and not improve understanding of content.

I like your annotations, very nice.

Kind Regards, :yo:
Panopticon

[BestLion]

Not sure if that is a sun. i am an amertuer astronomer and have a telescope.
I do think once out solar system had 2 suns, one was a dwarf star much smaller then our sun..about the size of Jupiter..