The mystery of the North Star: Astronomers baffled to find Polaris is getting BRIGHTER

[Jesus Malverde]

Astronomers have discovered that Polaris, the north star, is getting brighter.

They say the star has suddenly reversed two decades of dimming.

It is expanding at more than 100 times the rate they expected - and nobody is sure why.

A team led by Scott Engle of Villanova University in Pennsylvania recalibrated historic measurements of Polaris by Ptolemy in 137 C.E., the Persian astronomer Al-Sufi in 964 C.E., and others.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2552530/The-mystery-North-Star-Astronomers-baffled-Polaris-getting-BRIGHTER.html

[Glassunion]

1. Due to Obama's cutbacks at NASA, this event will not be observable from the southern hemisphere.

[Aristus]

2. I'm no astronomer, but doesn't this description fit the definition

of early-stage nova?

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Weird coincidence, I was just reading about this.

... The single star we see as Polaris, which actually consists of a main star and two smaller companion stars in a triple star system, is a variable star. The main star is a classic Cepheid variable, whose minute variations in brightness have been known and watched by astronomers since the early 20th century. In the early 1990s, Polaris was waning in brightness. Beginning around 2000, astronomers studying the star found that the brightness of Polaris was on the rise again. Looking back over centuries, Polaris’ brightness increase may be “rather dramatic.”

http://earthsky.org/space/polaris-aka-the-north-star-is-getting-brighter

[longship]

4. Polaris is a fucking Cepheid variable.

And astronomers have known that for many years. Of course, they are NOT baffled.

Cepheid variable

Polaris

For fuck sake, why are scientists always so baffled?

Horrible reportage!