Beta Pictoris b (2008 Nov 28)

[ta152h0]

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap081128.html

isn't astronomy great ? I remember discussions in magazines a few years back stating CCD's are going to destroy pure observational astronomy . To this i say BUNK ! and pass the beer !

[apodman]

The CCD is making photographic film obsolete and replacing it for everyday applications and for most technical applications. That is no small achievement. Imagine if something were to show up to make the automobile or the wheel obsolete. Imagine if the computer had the power to make the pencil obsolete. What would we think of that?

[neufer]

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictor

<<Pictor is a small, faint constellation located between brilliant Canopus and the Large Magellanic Cloud.
"Pictor" literally means "painter". The name is an abbreviation of EQUULEUS Pictoris, "painter's *EASEL* ".>>
*EASEL* , n. [D. ezel ass, donkey, hence, easel, or G. esel; akin to E. ass. See Ass.]
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Pictoris

Planetesimal belts: <<The dust around Beta Pictoris may be produced by the collisions of large planetesimals. In 2003, imaging of the inner region of the Beta Pictoris system with the Keck II telescope revealed the presence of several features which are interpreted as being belts or rings of material. Belts at approximately 14, 28, 52 and 82 astronomical units from the star were detected, which alternate in inclination with respect to the main disk.>>
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Titus-Bode law:

. belt a : 21 + 60 AU = 81 AU
. belt b : 21 + 30 AU = 51 AU
. [belt c : 21 + 15 AU ?]
. belt d : 21 + 7.5 AU = 28.5 AU
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Pictors in Space:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Pictoris

<<In 2000, observations made with the Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar facility revealed the presence of a stream of particles coming from the direction of Beta Pictoris, which appears to be the dominant source of interstellar meteoroids in our solar system. The particles in the Beta Pictoris dust stream are relatively large, with radii exceeding 20 microns, and their velocities suggest that they must have left the Beta Pictoris system at roughly 25 km/s. These particles may have been ejected from the Beta Pictoris debris disk as a result of the migration of gas giant planets within the disk and may be an indication that the Beta Pictoris system is forming an Oort cloud. Numerical modelling of dust ejection also suggests radiation pressure may also be responsible and suggests that planets further than about 1 AU from the star cannot directly cause the dust stream. On the other hand, planets in close-in orbits around Beta Pictoris better fit the planetary scenario for the stream's origin.>>
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[BMAONE23]

Something rather interesting to note...in this hubble image of Beta Pic, The "noise" surrounding the star appears to be magnetically influenced. If this is the case, the stars magnetic poles would lie perpendicular to the secondary disc rather than the primary disk. In other words it looks to me like the secondary disk would orbit at the stellar equator.

[ta152h0]

That is not clear, I had assumed the image presents the orbital plane to be edge on. but we all know what happens when you assume and you are wrong .......................

[apodman]

(extracted from one of my old posts)

The Constellation Pictor

http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/sculptor.htm

A faint constellation south of Cetus and Aquarius, invented by the French astronomer Nicolas Louis de Lacaille during his mapping of the southern skies in 1751–52. His original name for it, given on his planisphere of 1756, was l’Atelier du Sculpteur, the sculptor’s studio. It consisted of a carved head on a tripod table, with the artist’s mallet and two chisels on a block of marble next to it. On Lacaille’s 1763 planisphere the title was Latinized to Apparatus Sculptoris, since shortened. Bode in 1801 dispensed with the block of marble and moved the sculptor’s tools to the top of the table along with the carved bust. The stars of Sculptor are of fourth magnitude and fainter, and none are named.

[Illustrations ...]
http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/sculptor.htm
http://www.ianridpath.com/startales/scu ... caille.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Louis_de_Lacaille

[Lacaille's] desire to observe the southern heavens led him to propose, in 1750, an astronomical expedition to the Cape of Good Hope. This was officially sanctioned by Roland-Michel Barrin de La Galissonière. Among its results were determinations of the lunar and of the solar parallax (Mars serving as an intermediary), the first measurement of a South African arc of the meridian, and the observation of 10,000 southern stars.

Of the 88 modern constellations, Lacaille invented 14 (and made 3 more by subdividing one of Ptolemy's constellations).

http://www.ianridpath.com/constellations1.htm
http://www.ianridpath.com/constellations2.htm

Antlia - air pump
Caelum - sculptor's chisel
Carina - keel of ship
Circinus - compasses
Fornax - laboratory furnace
Horologium - clock
Mensa - table mountain
Microscopium - microscope
Norma - carpenter's square
Octans - octant
Pictor - painter's easel
Puppis - stern of ship
Pyxis - compass box of ship
Reticulum - crosshairs
Sculptor - sculptor's studio
Telescopium - telescope
Vela - sail of ship

[NoelC]

According to the APOD caption:

Designated Beta Pictoris b, the new source is more than 1,000 times fainter than the direct starlight

Wouldn't the reflected light off a planet be more than 1,000 times dimmer than the light from the star directly? Wouldn't this small a difference imply a companion star more than a planet?

-Noel