Starship Asterisk*

Ann wrote:
I can't make you get it!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gacrux wrote:
<<Gamma Crucis (γ Cru, γ Crucis), often called Gacrux, is the nearest red giant star to the Sun. The distance to Gacrux has been determined using parallax measurements made during the Hipparcos mission, which yielded a value of 88.6 light-years (27.2 parsecs) away from Earth. With an apparent visual magnitude of +1.63, this is the third-brightest star in the southern circumpolar constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross, and one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Among Portuguese-speaking peoples it is also named "Rubídea" (or Ruby-like), in reference to its color. A line from the two "Pointers", Alpha Centauri through Beta Centauri, leads to within a few degrees of this star.>>

Jim Kaler wrote:
Gacrux is (with Shaula) the 24th brightest star in the sky. For a star of its brilliance, however, it has not received much individual attention, probably again because it is not observable throughout much of the world where we find most of the telescopes.

Jim Kaler wrote:
And a pity too, as it is rather unusual among naked-eye stars. Most of the brighter stars in the sky are white class A or blue class B dwarfs, or even orange giants. Gacrux, however, is a cool red class M (M 3.5) giant star

From its rather nearby distance of 88 light years

Jim Kaler wrote:
With a mass perhaps three times solar or less, it may well have given up not just hydrogen fusion in its core (which it must do to become a giant in the first place), but may also have gone through its core helium-fusion stage. If that is the case, Gacrux is in the process of becoming a "second-ascent" giant, one brightening into the ethereal realm of the giant stars for the second time, a speculation reinforced by its variability.

Ann wrote:
Yes!!! I am Gacrux!

...You may read this page if you want to know mare about stellar evolution, even though
it sounds slightly childish at times (which is something I never do, of course!).

Ann wrote:
Like Gacrux, I am the closest of my kind!

There is an ever so slight (note: ever so slight) French touch to me!

I'm eight years old, going on nine. On the other hand, my true age is likely more than 600 million years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_2005gj wrote:
<<SN 2005gj was a supernova located approximately 864 million light years (265 million parsecs) away from Earth. It was discovered on September 29, 2005, by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and the Nearby Supernova Factory. 2005gj was noted because it had qualities of both type Ia and type IIn supernovae, and because hydrogen emission lines were found in its spectrum. These hydrogen lines, which were found on the spectrum at redshift z=0.0613, are thought to be indicative of interactions with a circumstellar medium (CSM; a donut-shaped, nebula-like ring of matter around a star) by the supernova's ejected matter or white dwarf progenitor. Such emission lines are extremely rare in Type Ia supernovae – only one other Type Ia, SN 2002ic, has been observed to exhibit the same properties. However, 2005jg's CSM interaction was much stronger and more clearly observed than 2002ic's. The mass-loss history 2005gj's hydrogen lines suggest has been cited as evidence that Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) hypergiants can be progenitors of thermonuclear supernovae.

2005gj was also noted for its overluminosity. With a light curve that maximised 14–47 days after the initial observation, it was three times more luminous than SN 1991T (which was, at the time of its 1991 discovery, the brightest Ia supernova on record), 1.5 times more luminous than SN 2002ic, and close to 100 times more luminous than previously thought possible. Scientists Denis Leahy and Rachid Ouyed from the University of Calgary contend that the incidence of a quark nova, a very luminous process involving the degeneration of neutrons into their constituent quarks, could explain the unusual magnitude of the luminosity.>>

Beyond wrote:
Because of the 'young and old' clue, i kinda thought it was some type of nova,
but that's as far as i got, till Art jumped in and Artificerized it.

• Ann is no match for me

neufer wrote:

Beyond wrote:
Because of the 'young and old' clue, i kinda thought it was some type of nova,
but that's as far as i got, till Art jumped in and Artificerized it.

• Ann is no match for me

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_supernova wrote:
A near-Earth supernova is an explosion resulting from the death of a star that occurs close enough to the Earth (roughly less than 100 light-years away) to have noticeable effects on its biosphere.

Ann wrote:
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who is Ann in great Art's hall?

But Art, thanks for calling attention to that fantastic supernova, SN 2005gj! What an amazing blast! Really, that supernova deserves to be its own solution to the "Where am I?" puzzle!

So once again, thanks for that supernova info!!! But alas, SN 2005gj is not the answer to this puzzle.

But you got one thing absolutely right - 2005!!! Yes indeed, that is why the object that is the answer to this puzzle is eight years old, going on nine! It was discovered in 2005!

Math is my specialty

Ann wrote:
But it is a good thing that the object that I'm asking about is not a supernova.

And the object I'm asking about is indeed closer to us than 100 light-years! If it had been a supernova, it could have fried us, or at least given our dear old atmosphere a whammy.

But "my object" is harmless! (And sorta nice looking...)

BDanielMayfield wrote:I was totally stumped untill reading "this place isn't a star."

Like Gacrux, I am the closest of my kind!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_189733_b wrote:
Being the closest transiting hot Jupiter to Earth

There is an ever so slight (note: ever so slight) French touch to me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_189733_b wrote:
The planet was discovered orbiting the star HD 189733 A on October 5, 2005, when astronomers in France observed the planet transiting across the face of the star.

On the other hand, my true age is likely more than 600 million years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_189733_b wrote:
Parent star Age: >0.6 Gyr

And the object I'm asking about is indeed closer to us than 100 light-years!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_189733_b wrote:
HD 189733 b, more formally HD 189733 Ab,[citation needed] is an extrasolar planet approximately 63 light-years away from the Solar System in the constellation of Vulpecula, the Fox.

There is a very mean east wind there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_189733_ ... the_planet wrote:
Assuming the planet is tidally locked with its star, this suggests that powerful easterly winds moving at more than 2,700 metres per second (9,700 km/h) are responsible for redistributing the heat.

Like I said, if Cinderella had dropped her glass slipper in this place, she would never have found it again. It would have melted, shattered, and joined gazillions of other glass fragments blowing sideways in this place in its mean east wind!

http://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/07/ ... hot-glass/ wrote:
Howling winds of 4,350 mph (7000 km/hr) fling fine particles of searing glass sideways through the fiery air.

And if Cinderella had gone to the prince's ball here, she would hardly have had to do any dancing of her own. This place alone would have whirled her around with a vengeance!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_189733_b wrote:
HD 189733 b orbits its host star once every 2.2 days at an orbital speed of 152.5 kilometres per second (341,000 mph)

And maybe Cinderella felt herself grow hot when she looked into the eyes of her prince? Well, this place would make her plenty hot enough, even if her prince went missing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HD_189733_b#Visible_colour wrote:
Using both models, the planet's temperature would be between 1340 to 1540 K.

Ann wrote:Big Bang???

Ann