Chapter 20:

Ordinary Stars


What's New Updates by Chapter Astro Pages Ordering


Mnemonics for Stellar Classification

From the AASWomen Newsletter:

1. Oh Be A Fine [Guy/Gal,Girl] Kiss Me (Right Now Smack).
2. Oh Begone, A Friend's Gonna Kiss Me (Right Now Smack).
3. Official Bureaucrats At Federal Government Kill Many Researchers' National Support
4. Only Big Astronomy Federal Grants Keep Money. Research Needs Support!
5. Old Boring Astronomers Find Great Kicks Mustily Regaling Napping Students.
6. On Backward Astronomer, Forget Geocentricity; Kepler's Motions Reveal Nature's Simplicity.
7. Out Beyond Andromeda, Fiery Gases Kindle Many Radiant New Stars.
8. Orbs, Bright And Fair, Generate Kinder Memories: Revolving Nighttime Skies.
9. Oh Bother, Astronomers Frequently Give Killer Midterms.
10. Oh Bother, Another F's Gonna Kill Me.
11. Overseas [Bulletin/Broadcast]: A Flash! Godzilla Kills Mothra! (Rodan Named Successor).
12. Oil Buffers A Fragile Gasket, Keeps Motors Running Nearly Smooth.
13. Old Bottles And Filthy Garbage Kill Many Rare Natural Species.
14. Oh [Beautiful/Brutal/Big] And [Fine/Fearless/Ferocious] Gorilla, [Kill/Kidnap] My Roommate Next Saturday.
15. Oregon Beavers Attack Famous Gardens, Killing Many, Rangers Now Shooting.
16. Oven-Baked Ants, when Fried Gently, and Kept Moist, Retain Natural Succulence.
17. One Bug Ate Five Green Killer Moths
18. Occupied Baker's Assistants Forget Giant Kitchen Mouse, Receive Nasty Scratches.
19. Only Bungling Astronomers Forget Generally Known Mnemonics!
20. Our Brother Andrew Found Green Killer Martians.
21. Oh, Bring A Fully Grown Kangaroo: My Recipe Needs Some!

Updates on new planets

Geoff Marcy and Paul Butler at San Francisco State University keep a homepage with the latest list of planets around normal stars. As of September 1996, they list 7 such extrasolar planetary systems.

Gliese 623b, a brown dwarf, discovered

The Hubble Space Telescope has detected a tiny star, Gliese 623b, which is only one tenth the mass of the sun. It must be on the boundary between a brown dwarf and a red dwarf. Jeffrey Linsky of the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in Boulder, Colorado, has detected signs that it has a magnetic field, though theoretical considerations hold that the star is too small to have the type of internal dynamo that we think generates stellar magnetic fields. The conundrum remains to be settled.


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