Comments on: An Egg-Shaped, Glow-Pole Spinning Star That Almost Isn’t

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 06:41:27 +0000

I am through waiting. If Regulus wants my attention, then it will go on and explode. Sometimes the greatest fame comes in death…heh heh heh…

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Feb 2005 06:38:38 +0000

Wow, I knew Regulus was the brightest star around, but not about a bulge in its surface! Now Regulus is even cooler! But I wish it WOULD rotate faster and explode already…Haven’t seen a supernova in some time, you know…heh heh heh…

By: rickyjames

rickyjames — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 08:53:06 +0000

…and me with a math degree no less. Let’s eat!

By: benhocking

benhocking — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 05:30:19 +0000

If it's equatorial diameter is larger than its polar radius, it's an oblate spheroid. If the polar radius is larger, it's a prolate spheriod - AKA an egg. There's a difference. Only an oblate spheriod can be due to spinning, as it stretches the sphere equally in two dimensions (say, x & y) relative to the other axial dimension.

By: rickyjames

rickyjames — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 14:33:01 +0000

C’mon, it’s egg shaped. Which axis is rotating has nothing to do with observer viewpoint. A hamburger is circular from a certain viewpoint. So is an egg, and so is this star.

By: Sweetwind

Sweetwind — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 11:52:11 +0000

Sure, the picture looks egg-shaped at first glance, but since it’s equatorial bulging (NOT polar bulging), the shape is actually more like… um, a hamburger? A cha siu bau maybe?

(geez, I can tell it’s lunchtime…)