Some interesting observations of the white dwarf GD 61. Perhaps an object analogous to Ceres or Vesta was destroyed by the star's tidal forces. Unusually high oxygen levels may indicate the presence of water in the object.
Lazarus dF star
Number of posts : 3337 Registration date : 2008-06-12
Subject: Re: Water in the destroyed asteroid at GD 61? 12th October 2013, 5:53 am
"These water-rich building blocks, and the terrestrial planets they assemble, may in fact be common. A system cannot create things as big as asteroids and avoid building planets, and GD 61 had the ingredients to deliver lots of water to their surfaces," according to Jay Farihi of the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
(emphasis mine)
Sirius_Alpha Admin
Number of posts : 4320 Location : Earth Registration date : 2008-04-06
Subject: Re: Water in the destroyed asteroid at GD 61? 12th October 2013, 6:00 am
That's quite a statement... I wonder how he figures that...
_________________ Caps Lock: Cruise control for 'Cool'!
Lazarus dF star
Number of posts : 3337 Registration date : 2008-06-12
Subject: Re: Water in the destroyed asteroid at GD 61? 15th October 2013, 2:30 pm
The Science paper is available on arXiv.
Farihi, Gänsicke and Koester: "Evidence for Water in the Rocky Debris of a Disrupted Extrasolar Minor Planet" http://arxiv.org/abs/1310.3269
Sponsored content
Subject: Re: Water in the destroyed asteroid at GD 61?
Home 
Planet Table 
