American Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics

Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2017

  • The Composition and Evolutionary Status of Proxima Centauri

    Martin Beech, Corey McCowan, Lowell Peltier

    Issue: Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2017
    Pages: 1-5
    Received: 07 January 2017
    Accepted: 21 January 2017
    Published: 22 February 2017
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    Abstract: A suite of stellar evolution models has been used to estimate the mass and metallicity of Proxima Centauri (GJ 551, HIP 70890, V645 Cen). It is found that the observations are best described by an M ≈ 0.12 M star with a heavy element mass fraction in the range 0.004 < Z < 0.01 (or equivalently, a metallicity of -0.5 < [Fe/H] < -0.3). The derived metallicity of Proxima is distinctly at odds with that established for α Cen A and αCen B. It is argued that both the observational data as well as the evolutionary models for Proxima Centauri are consistent with an age of some 7 to 8 Gyr and that its (presently derived) physical characteristics are inconsistent with an in situ or coevally origin with the α Cen AB binary.
  • On Hybrid Wave Functions, Tidal Forces and Black Holes

    Leon Francis Phillips

    Issue: Volume 5, Issue 1, January 2017
    Pages: 6-9
    Received: 22 January 2017
    Accepted: 03 February 2017
    Published: 02 March 2017
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    Abstract: Interesting questions that arise in connection with the physics of black holes include the existence or non-existence of mathematical singularities in the physical universe, the rate at which an incoming particle can be observed to cross a black hole’s event horizon, the quantum mechanics of small particles inside a gravitational potential well, th... Show More