... If the mass of the star, and therefore its gravity, is large enough, then nothing can prevent the shrinking from continuing until the star is so small that it was invisible. ...
... The same could be true of objects in the planetary mass range, in which case it is hard to say whether they formed in orbit around a star or not. ...
... One suggestion is that perhaps Elenin is not a comet, Page 3 but might be a planet (perhaps Nibiru, the mythical planet touted as the cause of the Earth's destruction in 2012) or a brown dwarf star or a massive black hole masquerading as a comet. ...
... It was Chandra (inset) who first determined the maximum mass of a white dwarf star. Sirius image: NASA / ESA / STScI / University of Leicester. ...
... Studying the Sun can provoke discussions of climatic and environmental conundrums such as the evolution of glaciers, ice ages, mass extinctions, and the possibility of life around stars like ours. ...
... of a black hole that forms from a collapsing star is around 5 to 10 solar masses, the estimated mass of Sagittarius A* is 2.6 ... Astronomers determined Sagittarius A*'s mass by measuring the speed at which stars orbit around it, a blinding 5 million ...