I was told tonight that there is more than one star in OUR solar system bigger than the sun, can somebody prove or disprove this point to me please???
2006-08-21 11:39:07 · 11 answers · asked by Katie 4 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Would just like to add that this info came from The Discovery Channel, basically I was told that they are too far away to effect our gravity/rotation etc. But I see it as quite believeable, seemingly they were only discovered very recently.
2006-08-21 11:47:22 · update #1
That statement is patently false. The sun is the only star in our solar system.
In fact, this could probably be deduced by looking at the etymology of the phrase "Solar System;" The word "solar" is of Greek origin, and the word itself just means "of or relating to the Sun." Defitionally, our solar system is limited to our Sun and bodies that orbit the Sun. Clearly there are no other stars orbiting the Sun.
Additionally (keeping the above information in mind), it is physically impossible for there to be a larger star in our solar system - it would not orbit the sun, the Sun would instead orbit it (or if the size difference were not too large, they would have a dual orbit and form a binary star). Doing a little thought experiment with the "law" of gravity should be enough to confirm this in your mind: larger objects (more massive objects) exert a stronger gravitiational force. The gravitational force between bodies is the reason that that objects like the Earth and the other planets in our solar system orbit the Sun; although they also exert a gravitational force on the Sun, it is miniscule compared to the force applied on them by the Sun itself. For this reason, the planets orbit the sun, and not vice versa. Extend this idea to a larger star - if a larger star were present in our solar system, it would exert a large enough gravitational force on the Sun that it would force the sun to orbit around it (and probably disrupt the orbits of the planets as well).
A few notes: It is possible for other star systems to exist with multiple stars - several have been spotted by astronomers. They either exist as system where the smaller star orbits the larger, or in the form of a binary star, where the two essentially orbit around each other.
Also, there are larger stars in The Milky Way Galaxy (of which we are part).
2006-08-21 11:52:56 · answer #1 · answered by Kerintok 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps it is a stupid question and I apologize if it insults your intelligence...but do you know the difference between our solar system and the Milky Way Galaxy? There are only two possibilities: either you misunderstood the above difference, or the program you saw was full of crap...which is not all that unusual for the Discovery Channel. They have a few good shows, but also many that spew forth nonsense.
2006-08-21 12:18:21 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our solar system got its name because it is based around a star callec SOL, which is our sun. No other stars involved.
There is a small chance that our sun is part of a binary star system, with the other star being so far away right now that would not even know of its relationship. But that would not make it a part of our solar system.
2006-08-21 11:47:19 · answer #3 · answered by iandanielx 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our solar system had one star.
What we call the sun. Binary Star systems have the two stars orbitting each other( or I believe. ) Even we had a second star in our solar system that was farther way the planets orbits wouldnt be shaped like they are.
2006-08-21 15:13:18 · answer #4 · answered by Ice 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The nearest star, Alpha Centauri, is a triple star system that combined are a little brighter than our sun. We see it as a single star, the third brightest in our sky. If the sun had a companion bigger than itself, that star would be a very bright object in our sky, as it could not possibly be further away than Alpha Centauri.
You are being fed garbage.
2006-08-21 12:03:37 · answer #5 · answered by nick s 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Whoever told you that is wrong and they need to prove their statement, we don't need to disprove it.
The closest star, other than the Sun, is Alpha Centauri, which is about as big and bright as our sun intrinsically. It is one of the brightest stars in the sky, although it is too far south to be visible from the US or Europe. Any star as big and bright as the Sun and closer than Alpha Centauri would be THE brightest star visible in our sky. Since there is no such obvious star in our sky, there is no such star in our solar system.
2006-08-21 12:06:12 · answer #6 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Our solar system only consists of one Sun. Do you mean our galaxy? If so then there are plenty of stars bigger than our Sun.
2006-08-21 11:44:47 · answer #7 · answered by rscanner 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You'd think you would be able to see this "other star", if it was bigger than the sun. We have probes and such monitering these things while at other planets. Voyager 1 and 2 should also have picked up these things.
2006-08-21 11:46:55 · answer #8 · answered by iam"A"godofsheep 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
we only have our Sun as our star.. no other stars, period. Someone is trying to pull your leg on this one.You'd see any other stars as another Sun in the sky... but there are about 400 billion stars in the galaxy, if that's what your friend meant.
2006-08-21 11:44:58 · answer #9 · answered by Mary 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no the anxious equipment in a real insect isn't stepped forward sufficient to sense soreness as all of us understand it. it is one reason that in case you grab a insect through the leg it purely breaks the leg off and runs away. soreness is generaly a function of more effective mind function animals
2016-11-30 23:10:45 · answer #10 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋