Evidence for a Solar Companion Star
- 1 January 1985
- journal article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Symposium - International Astronomical Union
- Vol. 112, 233-243
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s007418090014656x
Abstract
Periodicity seen in both the mass extinctions and large impact cratering on earth can be explained if one postulates that the sun has a companion star, orbiting in a moderately eccentric orbit with a major axis of 2.8 light-years. No other explanations that have been suggested are compatible with known facts of physics and astronomy. If the companion is a red dwarf star, the most common kind in the galaxy, then no previous astronomical observations would have found it. A search for red objects with large parallax is now underway at Berkeley, and has a good chance of identifying the star in the near future.Keywords
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