Mystery Object Defies Astronomical Classification

The newly discovered mystery companion forms a binary system with the brown dwarf, located 460 light-years away in the Taurus star-forming system. The object is too light to be another brown dwarf, but it’s too young to have formed by accretion, the way a typical planet does. Read More www.wired.com...

Hi everyone, I found this last night and did a search today but cannot see any other threads on the subject so excuse me if I missed it and Mod feel free to lock, delete etc.



I was reading the article and found it interesting enough because it raises new questions and challenges current theories about the formation of solar systems, accretion etc.

Quite bizzare and interesting in its own right, but an Idea popped into my head while reading it.

I read in another article that...

Luc Arnold, a French astronomer, has suggested that aliens might signal us with giant shadow puppets. Possibly inspired by NASA's Kepler mission, which uses a space-based telescope to find small planets by the slight dimming they induce when passing in front of their home stars, Arnold opined that the aliens might produce a simple signal that Kepler – or something like it – could easily find. A signal that's always "on the air."

Source

So would it not be wonderful if this was an example of this kind of communication but it is rather improbable.

Looking at the image in the article posted above it does seem to look strange but I am no expert in the field so could some one have a look and post their thoughts?

460 light years is still a long long way away but I think that if ET life was discovered even if it was at this distance would be a wondrous achievement and discovery.

Now I am not actually drawing a direct connection between the two but the idea is interesting.

Article Source

[edit on 8-4-2010 by bharata]

[edit on 8-4-2010 by bharata]

[edit on 8-4-2010 by bharata]

I flagged this thread hoping to bump it up for you. I'm no expert on any of this, although I do find it fasinating. I'm hoping someone with knowledge of astronomy and cosmology comes along to give their input on this.

reply to post by bharata


S&F for your efforts and this is an interesting concept of the E.T.S leaving beacons for any other life forms to locate or interact with them. Good find.



[edit on 4/8/10 by Ophiuchus 13]

reply to post by bharata


So is it in the Pleiades (M45)? Thats in Taurus and is 440? light years away.

[edit on 8-4-2010 by Klaatumagnum]

The anomaly is in the Taurus constellation which also holds the Pleiades although I don't really know how close both areas are.

Here is the information from the Hubble site.

About the Object
Object Name: 2MASS J04414489+2301513, 2MASS J044144
Object Description: Brown Dwarf with Companion
Position (J2000): R.A. 04h 41m 44s.90
Dec. +23° 01' 51".40
Constellation: Taurus
Distance: 460 light-years or 140 parsecs
Dimensions: This image is 0.6 arcseconds (84 astronomical units) wide.
About the Data
Data Description: This image was created from HST data from proposal 11203: K. Luhman (Penn State University) and K. McLeod (Wellesley College). Other collaborators include K. Todorov (Penn State University).
Instrument: WFPC2
Exposure Date(s): August 20, 2008
Exposure Time: 7 minutes
Filters: F791W (I) and F850LP (I)

Source

Link to more images

Excellent find!

The theory you propose is very interesting. It just goes to show how little we know about the universe. On the other hand, who's to say it's not an artificial energy source or something of that sort? Great stuff, I'll be following this story closely.

Good stuff! Thanks for sharing. Would be amazing if it were some sort of beacon. To attract other civilizations. Unlikely though, I know. S&F

]http://--.com/gigantic-alien-craft-photographed-by-cassin i-and-voyager-t954s60.html--.com... tic-alien-craft-photographed-by-cassini-and-voyager-t954s60.html

This should link to a short YouTube video of something else in Taurus, as noticed by Mikesingh, late of this forum.
Seems rather busy over that way.

[edit on 8-4-2010 by Bigfoot73]

[edit on 8-4-2010 by Bigfoot73]

Hi this is my first post on here so please don't flame me to death. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but, if they have managed to find this planet or whatever it is 440 light years away, why haven't they found any planets around Alpha Centauri? I got the idea they didn't have the capability yet?

Starred and Flagged.

I've never heard of this idea that this is how alien civs might try to signal other civilizations. It's pretty interesting.

It's like creating a HUGE lighthouse for everyone to see. Really cool thought, imo.

cool *snip* man. i always loved the astronomy stuff, i want to get a half decent telescope sometime in the near future. solid read!

[edit on 8-4-2010 by TheJuice902]

Mod Note: Profanity/Circumvention Of Censors – Please Review This Link.

[edit on Thu Apr 8 2010 by Jbird]

Originally posted by illustro
Hi this is my first post on here so please don't flame me to death. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but, if they have managed to find this planet or whatever it is 440 light years away, why haven't they found any planets around Alpha Centauri? I got the idea they didn't have the capability yet?

This new fellow has asked an interesting question. I'd like to know why can't we spot anything from Alpha Centauri . I mean, I won't live old enough to see if Sid Meier was right about us settling on a new planet, but as it is closer I just thought " hey why don't we take a look over here?"

Interesting discovery. At first the idea seems like yeah i can see aliens maybe trying that but i wonder with how large space is and everything that if they wanted to get noticed wouldnt it be better to find a way that wouldnt rely on some possible civilization focusing on that tiny area of space? That to me would be like standing on your roof in oregon waving a flashlight for someone in Texas with a telescope to see, hoping they spot just you and your signals. Just my thoughts on it. Kewl find though

Where anyone is getting the idea this is an alien artifact or some means of communication is beyond me. I see no suggestion for the idea. ATS is full of people with no common sense filters. But it's kinda interesting, which is why I come here, so thanks for the link.

Maybe as some sort of 'greys were here 2010/aliens on tour' type thing just so people knew they'd been there would make sense.. but it wouldnt be the most productive method of establishing contact with other lifeforms.

On a side note though.. this song popped into my head when I read the thread title. With 'object' replacing the word 'girl'. Doesnt have quite the same ring though... nevermind. :shk:

work is picking up... Do not have as much time to study, but thank you for this find.. I am going to star and flag this, I would like to see more on this.. I hope to find the information I cannot find anywhere else here.. Thank you star and flag and I will continue to come here to find my truths via my filter...


thank you..



[edit on 8-4-2010 by Bicent76]

reply to post by illustro

Alpha Centauri is not a single star, it is a binary system with a third companion star. Planet formation in such a system is open to debate though not theoretically impossible, computer simulations have shown that it is possible for terrestrial planets to have formed around both stars, and interestingly at about the 1 au range, but not larger planets like Jupiter or Saturn as these would be interfered with by tidal forces in the system too much.
So, small rocky planets close in to the stars, possibly. However the technology does not exist to detect planets of about earth, mars, venus size around other stars yet.

Manipulate the orbit of a planet around its parent star to send "shadow puppet" singles to Earth!!?? Why not just send a radio transmission? That would travel at the same speed and be a tad easier. I realize that this guy, Luc Arnold, is trying to think outside the box but shadow puppets? If we are going to think outside the box then why not try to imagine faster than light communication.

Originally posted by MattMulder

Originally posted by illustro
Hi this is my first post on here so please don't flame me to death. Not that I'm an expert or anything, but, if they have managed to find this planet or whatever it is 440 light years away, why haven't they found any planets around Alpha Centauri? I got the idea they didn't have the capability yet?

This new fellow has asked an interesting question. I'd like to know why can't we spot anything from Alpha Centauri . I mean, I won't live old enough to see if Sid Meier was right about us settling on a new planet, but as it is closer I just thought " hey why don't we take a look over here?"

I would assume that nothing has been detected around any of the near stars in the Centaurus system. This however brings up a good question. Why not look at the stars closest to us first and work our way outward? I mean to find evidence for an Earth like planet 1,000 LY away is rather impractical.

[edit on 4/8/2010 by Devino]

The checkerboard pattern that is seen in the image in the OP is an artifact of image manipulation.

From the hubble site…"In the right panel, the light from the brown dwarf has been subtracted to provide a clearer view of the companion object."…which can be seen at the eight o'clock position in both panels.

Further Reading

No aliens here, just interesting processes.

Took less then 5 posts for someone to make this about aliens.Wow this site is getting cookier and cookier every week.
Must be a full moon or something......