UFO Buster Radio News – 406: Two Suns, Perseverance Trajectory Correction, and SpaceX Resort

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Was Our Sun A Twin? If So Then ‘Planet 9’ Could Be One Of Many Hidden Planets In Our Solar System

Link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/08/18/was-our-sun-a-twin-if-so-then-planet-9-could-be-one-of-many-hidden-planets-in-our-solar-system/#484fed01585a

Our Sun had a companion and there could be many undiscovered dwarf planets in the outer Solar System. That’s according to a new paper from scientists from Harvard University.

Published today in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the paper by Dr. Avi Loeb, Professor of Science at Harvard and Harvard undergraduate student Amir Siraj goes against the dominate “lone star” thinking about the Sun’s origin.

Their radical-sounding theory that the Solar System may have once been a binary star system—so consisting of two stars orbiting a common point in space—perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise. “Most Sun-like stars are born with binary companions,” said Siraj.

Where is this ‘second Sun’ now?

It could now be anywhere in the Milky Way. “Passing stars in the birth cluster would have removed the companion from the Sun through their gravitational influence,” said Loeb.

Where’s the evidence for a ‘second Sun?’

In the Oort Cloud, that spherical shell of icy objects in the outer Solar System. It’s thought that it’s made up from debris left over from the formation of the Solar System, but there appear to be too many objects. Only when a “second Sun” is inserted into this new paper’s model does the Oort cloud become as dense as we observe it today.

What is ‘Planet Nine?’

“Planet Nine” is speculated to be a super-Earth—a planet about five to 15 times larger than Earth—that was first theorized in 2016.

“Planet Nine” is considered unlikely to exist because it would be difficult for the Solar System to collect enough material at such a distance from the Sun to form a super-Earth-sized planet. Which has led astronomers to think-up some even crazier-sounding theories about what, exactly, the observed “Planet Nine effect” could actually be.

One of Loeb and Siraj’s other theories is that it is that there is a primordial black hole in our solar system. The other is this new “second Sun” theory.

Mars rover Perseverance refines course toward Red Planet

By Mike Wall a day ago

Link: https://www.space.com/mars-rover-perseverance-trajectory-correction-maneuver.html

Four more such maneuvers are scheduled before the rover's February 2021 landing.

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover just fired up its deep-space thrusters for the first time.

Perseverance, the centerpiece of NASA's $2.7 billion Mars 2020 mission, refined its course toward the Red Planet with a trajectory-correction maneuver on Friday (Aug. 14), 15 days after the life-hunting rover lifted off.

The maneuver, which employed eight thrusters on Perseverance's cruise stage — the vehicle that carries the rover through deep space — was a success, mission team members announced via Twitter on Friday.

Perseverance's mission plan calls for five trajectory-correction maneuvers to set the rover up for its pinpoint landing inside Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. The four remaining engine burns are scheduled to take place on Sept. 28, Dec. 20, Feb. 10 and Feb. 16. (There's also a backup opportunity on Feb. 17 if needed, and a final "contingency" window on Feb. 18, just nine hours before touchdown.)

Perseverance launched July 30 on a mission to seek out signs of ancient Mars life inside the 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero Crater, which hosted a lake and river delta in the ancient past. The rover will also collect and cache samples for future return to Earth, potentially as early as 2031.

SpaceX plans for luxury resort

Link: https://www.themonitor.com/2020/08/15/spacex-plans-luxury-resort/

BROWNSVILLE — Judging from an advertisement posted on its job board recently, SpaceX has big plans for Boca Chica Village, the formerly sleepy retiree haven...