Re: Nutrino traps

[tuckr@digital.net]

>  A nutron star, passing anywhere near our solar system, would be
> a serious plroblem. Surely this is what was meant. If Nemesis exists, what
> if it is a nutron star?

Aw, gee, Roger,

    Neutron stars, alternatively known as "pulsars," are highly condensed 
bodies. They are the theoretical endpoints of stellar collapses with more mass 
than, say, the Sun, but less than bodies capable of producing so-called "black 
holes." Despite their name, neutron stars do not eject neutrons.
    The passage of such an object through (or near) our solar system *might* 
affect planetary orbits, but there is little (read: no) evidence of such an 
event 
during the past 4.5 billion years. "Nemesis" (alternatively, "Kali"), if it 
exists, 
more likely would be a low-mass red dwarf orbiting the Sun several light-years 
away. So far, no systematic searches have found such an object.

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-= Tuck =-
tuckr@digital.net