Evidence for Nemesis: a solar companion star

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:6449152

Muller, R A

The evidence that the sun has a companion star ''Nemesis'' responsible for periodic mass extinctions is reviewed. A gaussian ideogram of the rates of family extinctions in the oceans shows periods of 26 and 30 Myr. Analysis of impact cratering on the earth shows a period of either 28.4 or 30 Myr, depending on the crater selection. Models which attempt to explain these periods with either oscillations through the galactic plane, or through the effects of a tenth planet, are seriously flawed. If the periods seen in the data are real (and not a spurious result of a statistical fluctuation) then the ''Nemesis hypothesis'' is the only suggested explanation that has survived close scrutiny. The Nemesis model predicts that the impacts took place during brief storms of several million years duration, perhaps accounting for the ''extended'' nature of the mass extinctions. A search for Nemesis is under way at Berkeley. 18 refs., 4 figs.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Lab., CA (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6449152
• Report Number(s): LBL-20438; CONF-850183-1; ON: DE86003991
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640102 -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Stars & Quasi-Stellar
Radio & X-Ray Sources
640107* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BINARY STARS
EARTH PLANET
MAIN SEQUENCE STARS
PLANETARY EVOLUTION
PLANETS
SOLAR SYSTEM EVOLUTION
STARS
SUN