gutfreund%umass-cs@UDel-Relay@sri-unix.UUCP (08/11/83)
From: Steven Gutfreund <gutfreund%umass-cs@UDel-Relay> VEGAN COLONIES DISCOVERED Well, not exactly. Nevertheless the front page of today's NYT was almost as surprizing. Especially for someone like me who has been openly sceptical of the numerology people have been using to come up with figures for the number of planets in the galaxy. Now there is something other than fluff to base such guesses. Today it was announced that the IRAS (Infrared Orbiting Telescope) has discoverd some sort of accretion sphere of cold matter circling VEGA. The cold matter is of undetermined size, but certainly larger than dust. (It could not have stayed in orbit) While it could have planet sized objects, most astronomers believe that at the least, they have discovered a proto solar system. Vega (Alpha/Lyra) is approximately 26 light years from where I currently sitting. It is estimated to be only 1 billion years old, and twice as bright as old SOL. The matter extends for at least 80 AU from Vega (Pluto is 40 AU from the Sun). - Steven Gutfreund Gutfreund.umass@udel-relay