The Star That Keeps Getting Weirder

[@ScienceAsylum]

Watch this video ad-free on Nebula: nebula.tv/videos/scienceasylum-the-star-that-keeps-getting-weirder *Note about the equation at **07:14** -* While what I'm saying is correct, I've been informed the symbol 'σ' is a constant in this specific context, not area like it is in other contexts. A better way to have written the equation would have been L ∝ A T⁴, with 'L' for luminosity and 'A' for area. Unfortunately, KZbin doesn't allow me to replace videos on a whim. We'll have to live with this pinned correction (and the pop-out correction card I added to the video itself). That being said, Nebula let's me fix and replace videos whenver I want. Yay Nebula! The equation has been fixed there. If you're not into supporting on Patreon because you don't want to support a single creator, signing up for Nebula using one of my links (like the one above) is a good option. I'd get 1/3 of your subscription fee and the other 2/3 supports Nebula as a whole.

[@aaronmicalowe]

Is it possible that Sirius B's Rosch limit was smaller than it's radius when Sirius A was inside it, due to it's low density? And if so, if Siruis A was still outside of that Rosch limit, wouldn't this solve the weirdness?

[@NathanielStickley]

Yikes! Error in the Stefan-Boltzmann Law section. It looks like you're implying σ is the surface area; it's the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. Instead of the expression for intensity, I. You actually want to use the luminosity instead: L = AI = AσT⁴, where A is the surface area (4 πr², since it's spherical).

[@ScienceAsylum]

@@NathanielStickley Thanks for the correction. I think all these years my brain has been doing a few things that have cancelled each other out: (1) Assuming σ is area like it is in _every_ other context, (2) being ambiguous about what "intensity" is, and (3) ignoring constants like any good theorist does. So L = σAT⁴ became L = σT⁴. I'll see what I can do about fixing this error.

[@NathanielStickley]

@@ScienceAsylum Ah, ok. It might help to remember that σ is oftentimes the *cross-sectional* area, but the relevant area when computing luminosity is the *total* surface area. (in other contexts, σ is stress, surface charge density, surface mass density, conductivity, standard deviation, velocity dispersion,....)

[@ScienceAsylum]

@@NathanielStickley Yeah, saying "σ is area in _every_ other context" is hyperbolizing a bit.

[@billyyank2198]

"Surely you can't be serious." "I am Sirius, and don't call me Shirley."

[@douglasboyle6544]

Nice!

[@Punchy361]

How much longer until we can land on the star?

[@shelley-anneharrisberg7409]

Oh very good! 😄

[@xanderunderwoods3363]

What is your vector Victor? Roger Roger. You have clearance Clarence.

[@Punchy361]

@@xanderunderwoods3363 a hospital? What is it? It's a big building with doctors inside

[@dracoargentum9783]

Sirius B eyes the dinosaur, “no witnesses!”; chucks an asteroid.

[@qritique]

Sirius B's gaze sharp, "No witnesses," rocks descend- Dinosaurs' end.

[@coloripple]

I was bored and calculated that for Sirius to yeet out an asteroid 126 million years ago, and for it to reach earth 66 million years ago from 8,611 lightyears away, it would have been traveling at about 43km/s for those 60M years. Asteroids usually travel 17-25 km/s, so unlikely, but if Sirius was feeling passionate it might have thrown the asteroid twice as fast to be sure it got the job done... Another Googling further, it seems the asteroid did travel only 20km/s, and from the northeast (sirius is closer to the equator usually) (or middle declination to use newly learned terms) I honestly would not have thought those 60M years are still like twice too short of a time to make up for 8,6 lightyears... light is fast yall That's all for now, I spent too much time on this

[@coloripple]

I was bored and calculated that for Sirius to yeet out an asteroid 126 million years ago and for it to reach Earth 66 milion year ago from 8,611 lightyears away, it would have been moving at 43km/s for those 60M years. Usually asteroids travel at 17-25 km/s, so unlikely, but maybe if Sirius was really passionate it might have thrown the asteroid twice at fast just to be sure… Another Googling later and it turns out the asteroid was only moving at 20 km/s, and from the northeast (sirius is usually closer to the equator) (or middle declination to use newly learned terms) I wouldn’t have thought those 60M years are still like twice too short to make up for those 8,6 lightyears… light is fast yall That’s all for now, I spent too much time on this

[@coloripple]

I was bored and calculated that for Sirius to yeet out an asteroid 126 million years ago and for it to reach Earth 66 milion year ago from 8,611 lightyears away, it would have been moving at 43km/s for those 60M years. Usually asteroids travel at 17-25 km/s, so unlikely, but maybe if Sirius was really passionate it might have thrown the asteroid twice at fast to be sure… Another Googling later and it turns out the asteroid was only moving at 20 km/s, and from the northeast (sirius is usually closer to the equator) (or middle declination to use newly learned terms) I wouldn’t have thought those 60M years are still like twice too short to make up for those 8,6 lightyears… light is fast yall That’s all for now, I spent too much time on this

[@coloripple]

I was bored and calculated that for Sirius to yeet out an asteroid 126 million years ago and for it to reach Earth 66 milion year ago from 8,611 lightyears away, it would have been moving at 43km/s for those 60M years. Usually asteroids travel at 17-25 km/s, so unlikely, but maybe if Sirius was really passionate it might have thrown the asteroid twice at fast to be sure… Another Googling later and it turns out the asteroid was only moving at 20 km/s, and from the northeast (sirius is usually closer to the equator) (or middle declination to use newly learned terms)

[@unvergebeneid]

At least you have stargazing to draw in new students. We had to sell computer science to students: "So most of what we do is debug code." "Okay, but what do we do as a fun activity for high-school students?" "Uh... debug _fun_ code?"

[@ScienceAsylum]

😂 Yeah, that's a hard sell.

[@Decodeish1]

Making games is a good introduction. I didn't expect to go into telecoms after all. oh well

[@shootingblueyes]

They showed me Conway's game of life and Dwarf fortress and I was hooked

[@TheUglyGnome]

​@@Decodeish1 You never know where you end up when you start your CS studies. I planned to go to DSP/audio tools but found myself doing weather forecasting.

[@unvergebeneid]

@@Decodeish1 making games. Yeah like I said, debug fun code ;)

[@gratch46]

This is Sirius the brightest star in the sky. Our Sun: I'm right here, do you not see me?

[@hehehahahmhmhm]

it is the brightest star in the NIGHT sky😉

[@NoNameAtAll2]

sorry, my mom taught me to never look at the sun

[@trucid2]

Both are true, depending on which definition of 'star' you're using.

[@TurboLoveTrain]

Most people don't even know our Sun is a Cepheid. It just keeps Earth's radiation deflecting shield powered (the plasmasphere); feeds the pillars of the food chain (plants); powers the water and carbon cycle and keeps us from freezing to death. Mundane really.

[@TurboLoveTrain]

@@trucid2 Over the counter cosmology has yet to admit stars are liquid metallic. Ours is hydrogen but there are more versions. You don't get neutron matter nucleation without exotic matter lattices--for example. Heck, they over the counter cosmology can't even get a planet right XD

[@FriedrichHerschel]

I always love these stories on how something was figured out. It shows that it's basically a huge collaborative effort, that many great minds are needed to figure something out, and that those great minds can also be in error. Well, and then there is Euler.

[@markcoleman9892]

When it comes to astronomy and space probes, I wonder what the ACTUAL score is between "that's exactly what we predicted" and "uh.... we weren't expecting THAT?" Do we know enough to "get by?" Yes. Do we have it all "figured out?" Not by a long shot! 🖖

[@jasonstclair1329]

Evolutionary astronomers are consistently in error yet never defunded so the lies continue. Take Pluto as an example. Creation astronomers were 100% correct in their predictions and in predicting the excuses that the secular astronomers would use when they failed.

[@alphagt62]

And did you see the pork chops on Clark? That’s some serious facial hair!

[@SVPunk619]

I appreciate the Leslie Nielson joke, always a classic.

[@dracoargentum9783]

I just want you to know, we’re all counting on you.

[@mjproebstle]

⁠You can’t take a guess for another 2 hours?

[@archangelgabriel5316]

Surely.

[@trevinbeattie4888]

Don’t call my Shirley.

[@adb012]

Sirius is an entirely different kind of star, altogether.

[@seekvapes9641]

Maybe it was a chaotic ternary system before (you can't simply rewind a three body system), and after Sirius B died the third star got them closer together by ejecting itself from the system.

[@oldbrokenhands]

Kinda glad I live in this era of supercomputers and calculations that take nanoseconds. It literally took Bessel a lifetime to crunch through the numbers and notice the changes.

[@ktrimbach5771]

Yes, but he also needed a century of pre-existing data, so having a supercomputer wouldn’t have been much help.

[@kittydaddy2023]

He was just quiet quitting

[@gadget6623]

Meanwhile, ex planet Pluto is left lamenting. "T'was a time when I ruled the cosmological dog jokes..."

[@TalRohan]

Happy Pluto was he... patrolling the perimeter.....until one day he suddenly got demoted......He stopped chasing cats, started drinking, smoking and listening to jazz ...every few rattled breaths taking a slug of something grossly alcoholic and crying "WHY ME?" 🌐 🪨 🪨 🪨🍺🍹🍷🍸

[@coreyyanofsky]

Dr. Lucid plays the long game too apparently, setting up that final line in the script

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks for noticing.

[@shelley-anneharrisberg7409]

It took about a minute for me to get it 😂Good one!

[@karlwaugh30]

I like how this just gets totally crazy and then goes "and we dunno...", I'm gonna have to come back for part 2 in 50 years when we have the next chunk of the story...

[@counter-intelligence7902]

At 8:08 you missed a joke: "Quantum mechanic may deserve a whole episode or it may not." 😄

[@davidobermeyer26]

You'll only know once you observe 🔭it.

[@ScienceAsylum]

😂

[@gsg7354]

I like where your going with this but it mite already be there. Or does it already have it's own episode or episodes.

[@TalRohan]

@@davidobermeyer26 are you bringing schroedingers cats into it? ...I wonder if he had a dog too 🐈🐕

[@meurdesoifphilippe5405]

It may and may not

[@fourkings7897]

Da-Worf!

[@freerideziege6047]

Da-Worf

[@thatfly5360]

Da-worf

[@unvergebeneid]

I love that Google offers me to translate this into English. Then, when you click on "translate", it does... absolutely nothing ;D

[@raginggerman5377]

Da-Why?

[@Nefville]

Da-worf!!

[@Jh00tube]

I discovered this channel the other day and since then I am binge watching everything! Loving the content, the production, sense of humor and mostly the intelligent selection of topics! This channel has quickly become one of my all time favorites!

[@TheReaverOfDarkness]

Kerbal Space Program taught me that a body in a highly elliptical orbit which dips into atmosphere can gradually circularize, losing almost entirely apoapsis while its periapsis remains about the same. It seems reasonable to me to assume Sirius A and B's current orbit as a final position, and simulate in reverse to find out what their orbits would have been back when Sirius B first grew into a giant. My guess is that they had an elliptical orbit which didn't cause them to collide with each other or come close enough to experience tidal disruption for much of the stars' lives, but when Sirius B grew into a giant star, it at some point became big enough for the close point in their orbit to cause more significant interactions between the two stars.

[@Samien]

Well done Nick 😊 one of your best so far x

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks!

[@jimgraham6722]

Thanks for talking about my favourite star. Sirius is a great navigation star, through a periscopic sextant, using the correct filters, it is readily visible in daylight when more than 30 deg away from sun.

[@rubenssiomusic]

Really? Wow, cool! So if we get a periscopic sextant, we can see Sirius during the day, as long as it's more than 30 deg away from the Sun? Nice!

[@Janky2912]

I never took the time to understand how that is accomplished, I get the stars don't move, but the planet does, you'd have to take the time of day into account and how do you come up with a latitude and longitude? Or at least a heading? Someday I may look I to it

[@SleepyHarryZzz]

"And remember: it's okay to be a little Sirius"

[@epiceric9]

So long as you used to be a big Sirius

[@harthur2010]

Dude, that was a seriously cool video :)

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks Hugh!! I'm happy with it. (It's a topic I would have avoided in previous years before I was primarily supported by viewers.)

[@abaldovinos1]

why dont you think so?

[@harthur2010]

@@abaldovinos1 ??? Not sure I understand, I said I do like the video.

[@unvergebeneid]

@@harthur2010 yeah okay but why do you hate the video so much? Nah, I'm messing with ya. No idea what abaldo meant either.

[@localverse]

albado might've been replying to how Nick previously would've avoided doing a video on the topic.

[@iraildojunior4647]

This was awesome! Please do more videos like this one! I wish you the best.

[@jeffscantling6199]

Keep doing videos in your "new style" where you cover things that you find interesting, and trust that your audience will find them interesting as well. Thanks for making great content.

[@vadymkvasha4556]

happy to see you, Nick! You're doing really interesting content!

[@hanstubben]

"don't call me Shirley" 😂😂😂 Leslie Nielsen is giving a wink from outer world!

[@johnstutzman5520]

Thanks!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thank YOU!

[@iammrbeat]

This has little to do with the subject matter of this video, but I just gotta say... I love your T-shirt. :)

[@ScienceAsylum]

😆 It's one of my favorite recurring bits from a KZbin channel.

[@ortherner]

no way is that mr bean?

[@ortherner]

no way is that mr bean?

[@belpuprajwal]

You are awesome bro. Thank you for all these videos out to the public. Really a fan of your work. Thanks to KZbin as well for making this happen.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks! I appreciate the encouragement.

[@markmidwest7092]

I'm guessing an encounter with another star long gone has affected the orbits of Sirius such that it's kind of hard to rewind the clock back now.

[@wacojones8062]

That is what I was thinking also.

[@ktrimbach5771]

A nova event would also create an uncalculable history

[@markmidwest7092]

@@ktrimbach5771 I agree

[@iainhunneybell]

Not only do you communicate this stuff brilliantly and entertainingly, but I still wonder just how the … you know so much about so many corners or physics. What an awesome mind ❤

[@ScienceAsylum]

It helps that I love learning stuff like this so much. It's easier to put in the time it takes to learn it.

[@ThanosElohim]

It’s possible that the orbital configuration changed at some point after Sirius B became a white dwarf. This could happen if there was a third star that got thrown out of the system. The loss of dynamical energy would then tighten the orbit of the remaining stars.

[@VideoFrame26]

Maybe there's no need for a third star to explain the configuration. Could it be that the grafitation force of Sirius B decreased when it became a giant and the stars moved away from each other and increased when it became a white dwarf with a result that both stars came closer?

[@ThanosElohim]

@@VideoFrame26 that wouldn't happen unless the star changed mass

[@VideoFrame26]

@@ThanosElohim It does, its like magnet particals, if you have a lot in a great space the magnetic forces are spread, if you concentrate the particals , the force from 1 point is a lot stronger! If you concentrate mass like a black hole , even light is affected by its gravity.

[@ThanosElohim]

@@VideoFrame26 Gravity works differently from magnetism though; unless you're inside the star, the gravitational effect on you is the same as if all its mass were concentrated at its center.

[@newmzy0]

Great video! I guessed that B was a white dwarf before you told us so I must have learned something from all the astronomy videos I watch. It's incredible to me that someone like Bessel was able to determine something "manually" that today would be arrived at almost automatically with digital rather than analogue data. Ink, paper and manual mathematics vs. digital storage and software. Bessel was a human computer I guess.

[@doomguy2000]

I love the "Don't call me Shirley" reference.

[@brothermine2292]

Surely it's Shirley.

[@sebas9174]

Hello Nick, has the possibility been considered that Sirius A and Sirius B may not have always been companions? That is, they captured each other after Sirius B became a white dwarf.

[@johnmckown1267]

Never make fun of that star. I'm Sirius. Has nothing to do with the video. Blame the cough medicine & old age.

[@ScienceAsylum]

😆

[@jimrafert7372]

Calling Alvan Graham Clark an amateur astronomer does a great disservice to the man. He and his father Alvan Clark were the foremost telescope maker of their time. Alvan Clark and sons refractors are still renowned today as the pinnacle of the art of achromatic refractors. They built the largest refractors ever constructed, including the 40 inch diameter refractor at Yerkes observatory, and the 36 inch at Lick observatory. Clark's refractors were the finest observatory instruments available at the time, and although later eclipsed in power by reflector telescopes, continue to do science today. Clark discovered Sirius B while testing a telescope of their own construction, An 18.5 inch lens which was the largest in the world at that time.

[@maxisalamone]

If orbits were way higher than now, B would not have engulfed A. Actually it would have slowed down A by the expelled material, and A's absorption of it. Which maybe explains why there's no nebula around it?

[@A_Stereotypical_Heretic]

There was a nebula, it dissipated about 120 million years ago.

[@It.s-just-me]

Quantum mechanics -- a topic that deserves its own video!

[@bertblankenstein3738]

The mountain at 7:42 is Three Sisters at Canmore, AB.

[@eritronc]

Wow, this is amazing!!! Thank you so much for the video Nick!!!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad you liked it! 🤓

[@eigenvector123]

I've always been captivated by the night sky and have spent years studying astronomy. To me, the most mysterious aspects of the universe are often the unseen, like hidden galaxies and dark energy. It’s fascinating to think that even the brightest star in the night sky holds its own secrets and paradoxes. This was an amazing video-thanks, Nick!

[@olleaberg7271]

Those sideburns were impressive...😮 3:15

[@katorea]

loved the video! also, smol typo at 8:46 "seqeunce"

[@ScienceAsylum]

Dang it!

[@jimsackmanbusinesscoaching1344]

Or as the Joker says, "Why so Sirius?'

[@sjonjones4009]

^ Underrated comment ^ "You see, madness, as you know is like gravity... all it needs is a little push!" Sirius driving astronomers crazy trying to figure it out.😂

[@JefferyMewtamer]

And now I'm reminded of the scene in Annuals of Arithmancy where Sirius pulls out that Joker quote in a retelling of a story from the second Voldemort War... which was apparently the main reason Sirius survives in the Arithmancer Trilogy.

[@shelley-anneharrisberg7409]

"The whole star-party-thing" 😂😂Could not be more accurate ... And I won't call you Shirley 🤣🤣(Thanks for that - always a classic!). Great video, as always explained things that I learned in Astro 101 in a way that made it so much easier to understand.

[@ScienceAsylum]

😆 I'm relieved that so many viewers know where that Shirley joke is from. I was worried the comments were going to make me feel old.

[@shelley-anneharrisberg7409]

@@ScienceAsylum Shirley you can't be serious! (But I know the feeling 😂)

[@DB-zp9un]

Woohoo a crazies video!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Woohoo!

[@Zyzzyx42]

Woo AND hoo.

[@parallaxe5394]

Hello. It is nice to see a historical look at something that we take as basic knowledge today and how it confused the scientists of the time. Also, I would not bet on this being the last weirdness of this star system. Great video and thank you Nick.

[@001firebrand]

Our beloved Dr. Lucid is back on the air 😎

[@ChristopherCurtis]

I'm wondering if there could be an incomplete, offset, or fractional nova that would leave a stellar remnant but somehow preserve a "chunk" that isn't completely ejected. for instance, what if like the Earth-Moon system two stars collided in a glancing blow, at just the right time that one was almost ready to go nova?

[@laierr]

I know it's kind of obvious, because me, a guy slightly above layman in astronomy immediately thought of that scenario, but... they become binary star rather recently? one star captured another? or something disrupted their orbits?

[@tomfeng5645]

Without some complex interaction, two stars cannot just become a binary on their own, as any singular interstellar object entering a star system necessarily is on a hyperbolic trajectory (has enough energy to leave the system). Any disruption must have required the existence of a third object of similar mass that was subsequently sling-shotted out. Another star passing though, capturing 1/2 members of a binary system, a trinary system that eventually destabilized, all seem like reasonable candidates, but there's no candidates for such a third objects, and the wide range of possibilities and timeframes make it difficult to narrow down what to look for.

[@dillongoff5078]

My first thought

[@PATISLAV]

Are you a bot? Or why is the exact comment here twice?

[@sentientflower7891]

It is worth noting that 126 million years ago Sirius wasn't 8 light years away and likely wouldn't have been visible on the Earth without the Keck telescope.

[@tmrogers87]

@12tone audio narration ftw!

[@randycreasi]

Wasn't expecting that collaboration! Is there a KZbinrs' Lounge where everyone hangs out and mingles?

[@ominollo]

7:06 I was seriously expecting many more remarks like this 😅 Very interesting video 👍

[@josephsalomone]

Star parties are how I look through $10k+ telescopes. Just show up, and someone will be glad to show you the arms on Andromeda or anything else you want to look at.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Great reason to go to one!

[@RaphaelOliphant]

Seriously this video is awesome & well explained thanks Nick😯👍

[@Andronicus2007]

You can't be Sirius!

[@Simon-fg8iz]

@7:21 What you have here is the flux density, σ is the Stefan constant, you still have to multiply it with a surface area. The text statement is correct, it's just that the graphics looks funny, making the CONSTANT smaller :)

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks for the correction. I think all these years my brain has been doing a few things that have cancelled each other out: (1) Assuming σ is area like it is in _every_ other context, (2) being ambiguous about what "intensity" is, and (3) ignoring constants like any good theorist does. So L = σAT⁴ became L = σT⁴. I'll see what I can do about fixing this error. At least what I'm _saying_ is correct. It's just a symbol issue.

[@Raziel1984]

7:06 i waited over 7 minutes for that pun!

[@markoszouganelis5755]

Thank you Nick Lucid!🌈

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks for the support!!

[@markoszouganelis5755]

@@ScienceAsylum Me too!

[@straighttoyou]

3:32 thank you

[@61rampy65]

I just love learning from your channel! The humor, combined with fairly simple explanations of science/ astronomy stuff makes it fun! Oh, and the comments were more filled with "Airplane" jokes than anything else..

[@Siskovski]

Great episode, just bear in mind that 40.000x diameter means 1 trillion times larger volume which means that it's outer shells were almost vacuum, something like 1 particle in a m^3. That's like the Hubble's ST orbit. At those masses the drag is negligible.

[@jogzyg2036]

The last time i saw a star acting weird, i got sent 22 minutes back in time

[@NorthernChev]

This was awesome

[@stadtaff1860]

10:31 there are known examples this is happening? Wow imagine watching this spectacular event with your own eyes

[@sharky582]

Sirius has intrigue inside intrigue like a matrioshka doll...

[@SleepyHarryZzz]

The Onion of Wonder

[@harley3514]

I love all your uploads! Keep uploading anything you want I'll always watch

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks to viewer support this year, I've been able to venture outside my comfort zone a bit and take some topic risks 🙂

[@juancuelloespinosa]

0:01 the sun enters the chat

[@taffaboi84]

Incredible! Thanks for this video. Mind blowing

[@qazsedcft2162]

It's probably unlikely but could it have been captured after the giant phase?

[@ScienceAsylum]

Given what we know, this seems unlikely. They formed at almost the same time and their composition is consistent with having formed together.

[@KnightTheKnight]

Serious B Serious levels of compression and compaction. The zip file of the universe Serious B

[@josebarria3233]

Someday we're going to be in Sirius trouble

[@franck3279]

Yes indeed, a nova less that 10ly away will be absolutelly gorgeous, but also problematic because of the radiations and erosion of upper athmosphere. Not the end of the world, but there would be a lot of work opportunities for oncologidts and derlatologists.

[@denysvlasenko1865]

@@franck3279 Sirius is not expected to go nova.

[@Elvenheim]

Couldn't it be possible that those 2 stars weren't initially together but met just a couple million years ago?

[@ScienceAsylum]

That was one of the first ideas we ruled out. Based on what we know of their behavior and composition, it is _extremely_ likely they formed together as a pair.

[@uninspired3583]

It's OK to be a little crazy, just don't go full Terrance Howard

[@DefinitelyNotABot-xt8kj]

1x1=0!

[@thefinerbs7157]

Or...Neil Tyson. Not sure which gender he feels more like today. He's not a real scientist either

[@TestUser-cf4wj]

​@@thefinerbs7157Says the person who doesn't have a PhD. Or probably even an AA. Keep walking, dummy.

[@4realGTFOH]

​@@thefinerbs7157 what?😑

[@marklong7698]

Thanks

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thanks for the support!

[@markmilan8365]

Are you Sirius?

[@ScienceAsylum]

😆

[@dracoargentum9783]

No, I’m Shirley… and stop calling me Sirius! Wait a sec…

[@leocomerford]

Is this burning an eternal flame?

[@kellydalstok8900]

I’m hearing “Or so we thought” in the voice of Horrible History’s Bob Hale. Maybe you can throw in a “But not for long” another time?

[@skylerbowerbank5847]

"Your hobies aren't a waste of time" I mean.. I think most if us have hobbies for the purpose of wasting time is a way we enjoy

[@kowalityjesus]

That is bodacious and gnarly. I dig it, dawg!

[@k-d-n]

But how could they, in 1809 (and before), measure a star that wobbles ever so slightly?

[@ScienceAsylum]

Very large telescopes and lots of patience.

[@franck3279]

Yes, but I doublt that even today, the gears of a telescope are that precise. Today, they are primarily using doppler shift and images substraction for that, but I have to guess they projected the telescope image to a grid and meticuloudly noted each star’s angles with their neighbours.

[@muskyoxes]

"Look, a noticeable wobble!" Later: "Oh, the other star is really dinky." Seems like the whole "it's much heavier than we thought" thing should have been obvious right then.

[@David_Last_Name]

It's what he needed the long history of records for. He wasn't directly observing it wobble. They had precise enough measurements that they could say "it should be at 6hr32m right ascension, why is it only sitting at 6hr30m?" or something to that effect. Then going back over 50 years he could see it would slowly drift from being slightly to the right of where it should be to slightly to the left, with a 50 year wobble.

[@mavadelo]

Glad you address this Sirius issue.

[@TheFlyingDogFish]

Hi Shirley.

[@TCook-d3s]

Great video. Thanks for posting.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad you liked it.

[@luudest]

This is Serious Stuff.

[@XEinstein]

Hey i was just having a look on your channel the other day to see if i had missed one of your video's (I hadn't) and now today here's the upload inwas longing for. Thanks Nick!

[@ScienceAsylum]

Sounds like you've got my upload pace internalized 🤓

[@expodemita]

The dyson sphere of the week 👍

[@tylermcnally8232]

🙄

[@antipoti]

Feels like watching a tv show and catching up to the newest season and realizing that now you have to wait a long long time for the story to continue and the cliffhangers to be resolved.

[@patricejoseph1803]

Sirius-ly...

[@stefaniasmanio5857]

Hi Nick. Ok. Now you must explain HOW . How can you be so clear, complete, precise and captivating? I would give an eye to be so clear with my explanations… I HATE it! ❤❤❤ btw the dog analogy is absolutely perfect… nobody will ever forget the fur…. 😂😂😂😂❤❤❤❤ all my love from Italy and my best wishes . Regards to your lovely wife!

[@AvangionQ]

10:05 Highly elliptical orbit? The scenario not considered? Stellar capture.

[@altrag]

I'm sure it has been considered, along with many other scenarios. The hard part is finding evidence showing which scenario is correct.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Based on what we know of their behavior and composition, it is _extremely_ likely they formed together as a pair. That hypothesis has been considered and ruled out.

[@knightbeforedawn]

What if part of the process of Serious B becoming a Dwarf star imparted additional velocity onto Serious A at a certain part of its orbit causing it to become elliptical?

[@gregoryhouse5240]

Sirius orbit can be explained if the system used to contain a 3rd star which has since been ejected this would account for how the orbit we see now came to be.

[@marsovac]

it could also be explained by sirius A being smaller in the past, maybe with time it accumulated a lot of the gas that sirius B shed

[@franck3279]

What about adoption? Maybe both stars had captured each other long after Sirius B has gone nova.

[@SleepyHarryZzz]

Oh wow thanks no scientists have considered this pls email them to let them know. Thank you for your contribution to science, I'll be recommending gregoryhouse5240 for the next round of Nobels.

[@phillyg7661]

A scenario I can see play out would be Sirius B shedding off layers and giving some mass to Sirius A every time, the two stars attracted in a dance that started after two galaxies passed though each other. Be it far fetched 😂

[@TheAmbientMage]

I still maintain that obsessed nerds with time on their hands are infinitely more important to science than "professional scientists".

[@JerekBilbar]

I definitely feel like the scientists with dedicated jobs and careers in the sciences are vastly more valuable to Science than some largely unemployed nerds and hobbyists

[@Schattenhall]

The subset of professional scientists that are most important to science ARE obsessed nerds.

[@shootingblueyes]

I think even the obsessed nerds would disagree with you. Professional scientists have generated mountains of data that made today's understanding of the universe possible. Obsessed nerds stands on the shoulders of professional scientists, who stand on the shoulders of obsessed nerds. Often times professional scientists are just obsessed nerds who couldn't afford to be an obsessed nerd for free.

[@drstrnglv64]

Show me a Venn Diagram of obssessed nerds vs. scientists, and I will show you a circle. 🤔😅

[@VikingTeddy]

I guess it feels like that because you constantly watch amateurs on KZbin, but don't read scientific papers. I guarantee that we'd be just fine without hobbyists. Without career scientists however, we'd be screwed.

[@JohnJosephBurhop]

Well explained. Subscribed. 👍

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad you enjoyed it 🤓

[@Omar-qw7fm]

This is the real stuff mate😁 keep it up

[@Schwuuuuup]

I love your videos so much ... and yes I noted the naked-gun-stlye-joke ... "Don't call me Shirley" 😀

[@trueilarim]

It’s from the movie Airplane. Spoken by Leslie Nielsen of course and that is why a lot of people associate it with Naked Gun stuff

[@Schwuuuuup]

@@trueilarim ah, I just recognized the style, not the actual quote. And being a non-native English speaker I'm quite proud, because I never saw the movies in English

[@oskarskalski2982]

​@@Schwuuuuup I'm also non-native speaker but after I've got proficient enough to watch movies in English without translation I noticed how much I missed on references and puns that couldn't be translated into other languages.

[@Schwuuuuup]

@@oskarskalski2982 same here, but I saw the Leslie Nielsen movies in my youth - over 30 years ago.

[@2150dalek]

'Don't let anyone tell you hobbies are a waste of time."......I love it.👀

[@numbersix8919]

Thanks for this video, I had no idea there was a Sirius problem in astronomy.

[@ScienceAsylum]

Glad you liked it! Wasn't sure how this video would go over.

[@numbersix8919]

​@@ScienceAsylum I like astronomy that's why. Never miss an Asylum episode!

[@dr.michaellittle5611]

Excellent video 👏👏👏

[@ScienceAsylum]

Thank you very much!

[@dankers12]

thats crazy you got eddington to do a voice over for your channel. im so proud of you.