Printer Friendly
The Free Library
5,677,569 articles and books
Member login
User name  
Password 
 
Join us Forgot password?

Next-door neighbors.


Scientists have long suspected that the brilliant star Polaris, or the North Star, is part of a triple star system.

But until recently, researchers had only spotted one of Polaris's neighbors, which is clearly visible through a high-powered telescope telescope, traditionally, a system of lenses, mirrors, or both, used to gather light from a distant object and form an image of it. Traditional optical telescopes, which are the subject of this article, also are used to magnify objects on earth and in astronomy; .

The third star couldn't be seen because it is too faint faint (fant) syncope.

faint
n.
An abrupt, usually brief loss of consciousness; an attack of syncope.

adj.
Extremely weak; threatened with syncope.
 and too close to Polaris, says Nancy Evans, an astronomer at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It consists of the Harvard College Observatory and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. The Center is located at 60 Garden Street. . Researchers finally caught sight of the companion using images collected by the Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Space Telescope (HST), the first large optical orbiting observatory. Built from 1978 to 1990 at a cost of $1.5 billion, the HST (named for astronomer E. P. Hubble) was expected to provide the clearest view yet obtained of the universe. .
COPYRIGHT 2006 Scholastic, Inc.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

 Reader Opinion

Title:

Comment:



 

Article Details
Printer friendly Cite/link Email Feedback
Title Annotation:SPACE/STARS
Author:Norlander, Britt
Publication:Science World
Article Type:Brief article
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Apr 17, 2006
Words:80
Previous Article:Shrinking sharks.(GRAPH IT/LIFE)(Brief article)
Next Article:An elephant's tale.(PHYSICAL ISOTOPES)(Brief article)
Topics:



Related Articles
Bullies of the universe: massive stars rob their smaller neighbors. (star formation research)
Wyndham Anatole Hotel.(Dallas, Texas, hotel for meetings)(Brief Article)
`LOST AND FOUND' WITH SPADE HAS ITS LAUGHS, LOW-BROW GAGS.(L.A. LIFE)
Sharper images: new Hubble camera goes the distance. (This week).(Brief Article)
Little George goes to war. (final cut).
WAS SHE PORN TO BE WILD?(U)
Astronomy.(Science News Of the year)
BRIEFLY.(Crime)(METRO)
Two found dead at home in Springfield.(Crime)(Gunshots ring out before police can enter the scene of a reported dispute)

Terms of use | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc. | Feedback | For webmasters | Submit articles