The “Vulcan” exoplanet discovered in 2018 now refuted
In 2018 astronomers had thought they had detected an exoplanet orbiting the star 40 Eridani A — which is where in Star Trek the home world Mr. Spock was supposed to be located.
That discovery has now been refuted by much more precise observations.
[T]he planet signal is really the flickering of something on the star’s surface that coincides with a 42-day rotation – perhaps the roiling of hotter and cooler layers beneath the star’s surface, called convection, combined with stellar surface features such as spots and “plages,” which are bright, active regions.
In other words, this exoplanet does not exist. For once at least life did not imitate art.
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In 2018 astronomers had thought they had detected an exoplanet orbiting the star 40 Eridani A — which is where in Star Trek the home world Mr. Spock was supposed to be located.
That discovery has now been refuted by much more precise observations.
[T]he planet signal is really the flickering of something on the star’s surface that coincides with a 42-day rotation – perhaps the roiling of hotter and cooler layers beneath the star’s surface, called convection, combined with stellar surface features such as spots and “plages,” which are bright, active regions.
In other words, this exoplanet does not exist. For once at least life did not imitate art.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Also hard hit: Andy Weir “Hail Mary”.
But wasn’t it refuted over a year ago? https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.10310
“On Stardate 2258.42, Vulcan was destroyed by Nero during the Battle of Vulcan when he used Red Matter to create an artificial singularity near the planet’s core, causing Vulcan to implode in a matter of minutes, killing billions of Vulcans.”
Wayne,
I have decided that the “Kelvin Timeline” never happened, and the “Star Trek” movies that have resulted directly or indirectly from the work of JJ Abrams are just action movies with a Star Trek overlay.
F
I agree. Fun action movies. Decent acting.. but no, I do not consider them part of the overall story. I decided that when I saw the Starfleet uniforms with the little hats….
Why would a space-faring organization wear hats?
Even in The Expanse they make note of the uselessness of a hat in space. All while using one, mainly for character development.