pumpin' @highcylon - Tumblr Blog

midiport

good morning

rudeteens

I just love barking so I really couldn’t give a fuck if this is the right tree or not haha

gammadoppler

i hate it when the ball is in my court get that shit out of here

reefsharkivist

pokes your dinner gland

shoolis

enki2

liminalstrands

Good news! It gets worse!

I think it's the galactic orbit thing that really did me in

derinthescarletpescatarian

WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHARKS HAVE BEEN AROUND THE GALAXY TWICE

asteroidtroglodyte

It’s a very good design

cacodaemonia

So, Polaris is actually three stars—Polaris Aa and Ab, which orbit each other very closely, and B, which is gravitationally bound to the other two. When we refer to this trinary system, we usually mean the biggest and brightest of them, Aa, which is the one that 'is younger than sharks.'

Indeed, it does appear quite young if you compare its characteristics to typical stellar evolution, but this 2024 Scientific American article by Phil Plait (the Bad Astronomer) talks about some newish data that suggests Polaris Aa only appears so young because it 'collided and merged with' another star about 50 million years ago:

Absorbing the energy from this other star essentially made Polaris Aa look waaaaaaay 'younger' than it really is.

One could even say that Polaris Aa is the Elizabeth Báthory of stars in our stellar neighborhood.

Also, even if sharks aren't older than the north star, they're still fucking metal.

rslashrats

the-big-mood

sashayed

has anyone figured out how to turn off the thing where you love your pet so much it slides inexorably into grief-borrowing

boomstab-papa

your-cosmic-creature

“For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on the shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand that the glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.”