Read Online Dark Star Rising Second Edition (Pebbles in The Sky) by Jeffery Bagley - Free Book Online
Authors: Jeffery Bagley
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that night in the bar. “Let’s change the subject, shall we?” he intoned. How about those dead whales that washed up on the beach a couple of days ago?”
“Not so fast, my boy,” said Eric. “We were discussing your paper and it looks like I am going to have to pull some teeth here.” He glanced at Susan. “Hopefully, this will not be too painful, so here goes.” Using his best lecture voice, he started in. “Peter, what sources of energy would Spitzer have seen while looking out into the universe?”
“Well,” said Peter, “It was designed to use the infrared spectrum. Specifically, it would have picked up sources of heat, such as from stars or groups of stars in distant galaxies. It could also have picked up an object close to a star that was receiving and radiating heat that it had absorbed from that star, such as a planet.”
“Correct,” Eric nodded. “Now, what else out in space, away from the energy source of a star , would radiate heat or light into the infrared spectrum that Spitzer could pick up?”
“Well, it would have to be something with an internal energy source, either from radioactive decay, chemical reactions, or some type of combustion,” Peter replied.
Eric nodded and led him on. “Ok, for the sake of argument, let us say that ET is not coming to pay a visit in some huge fusion powered starship that is dumping waste heat into space. What else does that leave?”
Peter contemplated for a moment and replied. “Well, that would still leave the possibility of a very large rogue planet that was still cooling off or a Brown Dwarf.”
Eric sat back with contentment and an expression of success, as a wave of comprehension washed across Peter’s face.
Peter was speechless for almost a minute then spoke. “If the source of the infrared artifact was a Brown Dwarf, it would have to be pretty large one, probably almost as big as an M class star. It would be very far off, unless, unless it was a very small one and it was very close. If it was a Y class, that would mean it would have to be very, very close to be seen, and...” Peter stopped speaking and looked at Eric. He then spoke slowly. “The infrared output was growing stronger, and there was no noticeable bearing shift at all. It was barely detectable by the first Spitzer images but grew stronger over the four year span of those studies. With the positive Doppler shift that means…” Peter grew silent.
Susan looked back and forth between the two of them and Peter’s look of concentration. “What?” she said. “Would one of you please explain what your guys are talking about? You have lost me.”
“I’ll be damned,” said Peter. “I think I have found a Brown Dwarf heading almost right at us.”
“You finally connected the dots, even if it did take a little pushing and prodding from me,” exclaimed Eric.
“I don’t understand,” said Susan. “I am only a biology major, but I do know a little bit about astronomy. Isn’t a Brown Dwarf a baby star?”
“Not exactly,” said Peter. “It is more like a star that never quite made the cut to join the other stars. It never gathered enough mass to start a nuclear fusion process. It is sort of like a giant planet, only much denser. They can give off some heat and infrared light as they slowly cool, but they will never be a fully-fledged hydrogen fusing star like our sun. Damn, this is going to be an opportunity of a lifetime. Depending on how close it passes the solar system, we can study it and put to rest a lot of theories about the evolution and formation of the stars and galaxies.”
“So this is a good thing, lots of people will be excited about this, right?” asked Susan.
Eric nodded, “Your right, my dear. Astronomers are going to go crazy over this and your boyfriend here is going to become somewhat of a celebrity when the word gets out.”
Susan stood, walked over to Peter , bent down, and
“Not so fast, my boy,” said Eric. “We were discussing your paper and it looks like I am going to have to pull some teeth here.” He glanced at Susan. “Hopefully, this will not be too painful, so here goes.” Using his best lecture voice, he started in. “Peter, what sources of energy would Spitzer have seen while looking out into the universe?”
“Well,” said Peter, “It was designed to use the infrared spectrum. Specifically, it would have picked up sources of heat, such as from stars or groups of stars in distant galaxies. It could also have picked up an object close to a star that was receiving and radiating heat that it had absorbed from that star, such as a planet.”
“Correct,” Eric nodded. “Now, what else out in space, away from the energy source of a star , would radiate heat or light into the infrared spectrum that Spitzer could pick up?”
“Well, it would have to be something with an internal energy source, either from radioactive decay, chemical reactions, or some type of combustion,” Peter replied.
Eric nodded and led him on. “Ok, for the sake of argument, let us say that ET is not coming to pay a visit in some huge fusion powered starship that is dumping waste heat into space. What else does that leave?”
Peter contemplated for a moment and replied. “Well, that would still leave the possibility of a very large rogue planet that was still cooling off or a Brown Dwarf.”
Eric sat back with contentment and an expression of success, as a wave of comprehension washed across Peter’s face.
Peter was speechless for almost a minute then spoke. “If the source of the infrared artifact was a Brown Dwarf, it would have to be pretty large one, probably almost as big as an M class star. It would be very far off, unless, unless it was a very small one and it was very close. If it was a Y class, that would mean it would have to be very, very close to be seen, and...” Peter stopped speaking and looked at Eric. He then spoke slowly. “The infrared output was growing stronger, and there was no noticeable bearing shift at all. It was barely detectable by the first Spitzer images but grew stronger over the four year span of those studies. With the positive Doppler shift that means…” Peter grew silent.
Susan looked back and forth between the two of them and Peter’s look of concentration. “What?” she said. “Would one of you please explain what your guys are talking about? You have lost me.”
“I’ll be damned,” said Peter. “I think I have found a Brown Dwarf heading almost right at us.”
“You finally connected the dots, even if it did take a little pushing and prodding from me,” exclaimed Eric.
“I don’t understand,” said Susan. “I am only a biology major, but I do know a little bit about astronomy. Isn’t a Brown Dwarf a baby star?”
“Not exactly,” said Peter. “It is more like a star that never quite made the cut to join the other stars. It never gathered enough mass to start a nuclear fusion process. It is sort of like a giant planet, only much denser. They can give off some heat and infrared light as they slowly cool, but they will never be a fully-fledged hydrogen fusing star like our sun. Damn, this is going to be an opportunity of a lifetime. Depending on how close it passes the solar system, we can study it and put to rest a lot of theories about the evolution and formation of the stars and galaxies.”
“So this is a good thing, lots of people will be excited about this, right?” asked Susan.
Eric nodded, “Your right, my dear. Astronomers are going to go crazy over this and your boyfriend here is going to become somewhat of a celebrity when the word gets out.”
Susan stood, walked over to Peter , bent down, and
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