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5 Comments
- Railer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Genesis of Nemesis
Muller's idea for Nemesis came to him 1983. Luis Alvarez, then an emeritus professor of physics at the University of California at Berkeley, and his son Walter had recently put forth the theory that a giant impact had wiped out the dinosaurs. (This idea, like so many others that are now widely accepted, met with staunch criticism when it was introduced because it, too, was not mainstream).
Around the same time, two other researchers had suggested yet another controversial idea, that mass extinctions occurred at regular intervals -- every 26 million years or so. Scientists immediately folded the ideas into a new and breathtaking possibility: Impacts by space rocks were causing massive global species destruction every 26 million years.
Luis Alvarez was Richard Muller's mentor, and he suggested that Muller try to debunk the periodicity argument. Pondering this, Muller dreamed up the fanciful companion to the Sun as a possible cause, and with Berkeley's Piet Hut and Marc Davis of Princeton, worked out the details.
Muller gave the object the name of the Greek goddess of retribution -- fitting for a killer star that roamed stealthily beyond the solar system flicking comets at dinosaurs.
In the end, the idea looked surprisingly plausible to Muller and his colleagues, and the results of their work were ultimately published in the journal Nature in 1984. Muller then wrote a book about Nemesis, and he has pursued the companion star, while also doing other research, ever since. - voitelas, on 03/27/2008, -0/+1The fact that there may actually be a twin star to the Sun (with astounding consequences for us) and we don't know about it amazes me. :-O
I had already read Muller's book. I still find the subject fascinating. - cerddorion, on 10/30/2007, -0/+0What an interesting article. It really made me think about how ignorant we are regarding this dangerous cosmic bombing and that we may be very close to the next big hit.
- ianvr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Interresting article.
- popstar96, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've read tantalizing bits and pieces about the twin sun hypothesis for years, and about possible cycles of (lesser) destruction that are far more frequent that every 26M years. Pleased to read that some are still pursuing the topic.
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