gee how do you define dimmest....

microscopium is quite faint...

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Yeah, it's a bit rough but the dimmest constellation is Mensa (nothing brighter than 5th magnitude I think).

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lol that's pretty funny

Mensa isn't very bright

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Arggh, Spica, really Demeter, earth goddess, could be corn or wheat. Daughter of Kronos, a Titan (see Greek-Saturn thread). But what's in a name? Would it still not be so bright? (kidding about name theft...sort of).

Mickal, that Mensa comment was funny.

You guys are too slow, :wink: it was Champion's turn, but I'm going to steal it and go to bed:

What white dwarf star has almost the mass of our Sun, but is only about four times as large as Earth? Packs a punch.

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Actually, I think it was Mickal's turn, but it doesn't matter. Can't say I know the answer to this one off the top of my head. :-?

Don't most white dwarfs share this characteristic?

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Nor do I-

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Are you sure about those numbers? That seems far too large. Sirius B has nearly the mass of the sun and is roughly the size of earth. Also the maximum mass for a white dwarf is about 1.4 solar masses.

My understanding was that a white dwarf was usually about the size of Earth. 4 times the size of the Earth? That means we're speaking the size of Neptune/Uranus. Are there really any white dwarfs that large?

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I bet it a joke 8-[ :wink: :P

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That is a very good question. I don't think so, since anything over 1.4 solar mass will collapse into a neutron star. But that does bring up a related question: What is the maximum size of a white dwarf? (and I don't know the answer to that one)

Also he used the word "only" implying that he thinks this is small ....

Do all white dwarfs have the same/similar density? If so then there would be a limit to the maximum size of a white dwarf.

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Here is a Wikipeda article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_dwarf

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(Source: http://www.astro.umd.edu/education/a...ev/wdwarf.html)

Those two statements prove that anything more than 0.6 solar masses (Melusine said ALMOST, so we can assume that it is between 0.6 and 1) would have a radius that is less than Earth's. So I guess that voids this question?

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Thanks for the link. This is an interesting thread. :P

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I gtg for a bit: mythbusters is on!! (SBS)

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Hmmm...I suppose I can go onto the next question now (we all seem to be making up the rules as we go anyway).

What is the densest planet in our solar system?

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Earth?

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Yup.

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Ok

What is the core of the sun made off?

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Lots of hydrogen and helium. :P As much as I can remember, nuclear fusion goes on all the time burning hydrogen into helium, releasing energy in the form of photons and nutrinos.

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I think it is hydrogen. I remember reading that the sun is made out of 95% of hydrogen. Either that it's helium.

Oh and i watch the mythbusters to.

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I'd have watched it but the only TV I had access to only supplied 5 channels (none of which were SBS ).

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It's a metalic hydrogen mixture.....

I dunno...

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You asked the question. 8-[

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no I didn't :-?

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Let CC ask a question- we need new contestents

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I'm rushing here now, but putting aside my "vague about 4x times..", (hey, it was late!)it says in my book that Sirius B has a diameter of 19,000 miles. I just looked up Google http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ius+b+diameter, and my book isn't the only one who says that. I'm confused. They agree with you here http://www.siriusresearchgroup.com/a...igitaria.shtml, but I'm confused about the disparity in the diameter, and secondly, if my book is unreliable. Has it shrunk? Lol. I know I'm not reading 19,000 miles incorrectly--it's right in it's own special blurb. ???

I like that "sirius" means "scorching, searing."

Either way Van Rijn, however vague (I promise to be more specific), you are correct and you have a turn at a question (and now I'm glad I was vague/incorrect).

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Well, If someone else asks a question instead I'm not gonna hold it against 'em.

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I'm curious how old the book is? There were different estimates in the past and it is hard to get good direct measurements on white dwarfs. I remembered it being about the size of earth and it seems that has been confirmed:

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publ...rf_theory.html


Ok, this will be easy to google, so please hold off and give others a chance if you don't know the answer: What is the maximum mass of a neutron star?

I've got a feeling it's 3 solar masses when neutron degeneracy breaks down over the forces of gravity.

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