The two stars, Zeta 1
and Zeta 2, are located in the southern constellation of
Reticulum (the net) and are thus never visible to most of
the northern hemisphere. Both are classed as old disk population
II stars whose age is between six to eight billion years. There
is every indication that both had a common origin and are part of a
relatively near-by old moving group (or loose cluster) of stars which
was first defined in 1958 and is known as the Zeta Hercules group.
Zeta 1 Reticuli is separated from Zeta 2 Reticuli
by at least 350 billion miles or about 100 times the
Sun-Pluto distance. They may be even farther apart but, as just
mentioned above, the available observations suggest they are moving
through space together and are therefore physically associated. They
probably require at least a 100,000 years to orbit around their common
center of gravity.
Our own Sun has an estimated age of only five billion
years and is classed spectroscopically as a G-0 star
(yellow-orange dwarf). Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 are
classed as G-2 and G-1 respectively, with
luminosities ("L") of 0.7 and 0.9 (the Sun being L=l.0). This means that
both Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 are very Sun-like and
could well possess solar systems much like our own.
In their highly technical paper,
DaSilva and Foy offer two very
important conclusions about these stars which radically contradict
earlier findings. These are that neither star is metal-deficient and
that neither is a close binary (or double). Earlier evidence (published
by Bonneau et al., 1980) identifying Zeta 2 as a
very close binary turns out to have been mistaken (Bonneau and
Foy, 1986).
The puzzling aspects of these "close" stars (.1 light year apart) center
around discoveries of higher than expected gravity and ultraviolet
output when compared to their apparently normal metal content (i.e. not
metal-poor). The ultraviolet excess and kinematic (proper motion and
orbit) data suggest that these two stars belong to the old
population II stars as mentioned earlier; yet the apparent high
gravity figure seems more typical of an unevolved,
metal-poor condition. Since DaSilva and Foy's work
resulted in strong confirmation of a Sun-like (or "normal")
metal content for these stars, they began to look elsewhere for an
explanation of the gravity paradox. The answer came with
the discovery of an apparent overabundance of helium
(twice as much as our own Sun) in the stellar
photospheres. This, when worked into the calculations, not only
explained the high gravity, but also accounted for the
observed problem of the stars' high ultraviolet output but
relatively low overall luminosity. Another effect of the helium
abundance would be to slow the process of stellar evolution across the
main sequence.
Additionally, it should be noted that Zeta 1 was one of
the first stars ever to be used as a solar analog by astronomers. What
might these findings signify as far as Zeta 1 and/or Zeta 2 possessing planets with advanced intelligent life?
Let's make a list of the strong points which support this idea:
(1) Both
Zeta 1 and Zeta 2 are solar, or Sun-like
stars. (If one imagines a spherical section of our galaxy with a
radius of 50 light years and centered upon our Sun,
only one star out of every eleven contained therein will have
Sun-like characteristics.)
(2) The previous objection that one and perhaps both stars
appeared to be close binaries has now been swept away. Stable
planetary orbits in the so-called eco-zone (i.e. close enough to the
central fire to produce conditions conducive to life) are
more probable around single stars than in binary systems. (It is for
precisely this reason that our Sun's nearest neighbor,
Alpha Centuri <Rigel Kent>, is
considered an unlikely candidate for life-giving planets even though
the main star of that multiple system is a class G-4
sun.)
(3)Both Zeta 1 and Zeta 2
have an average age of between six and eight billion years. This
makes them from one to three billion years older than our Sun
and suggests that any life on planets associated with them could be
much further along in its evolutionary process than we are.
(4) In many reported UFOabduction
cases, the "visitors" have been described as having a thick
epidermis and multiple eyelids. This is precisely the sort of
adaptation one would expect for creatures who evolved on a planet
whose sun had a high ultraviolet output. Curiously
enough, these characteristics were also reported by the intelligence
source codenamed "Falcon" as early as 1981.
On the negative side, it
must be admitted that there is no direct observational evidence of
planets around either Zeta 1 or Zeta 2.
However, a Canadian group reported that a Jupiter-sized
planet appears to exist in orbit around Tau Ceti, a
Sun-like star only about 11 light years away. Those readers familiar
with the star map developed by Marjorie Fish based upon
information from the Barney and Betty Hill UFO abduction case,
will recall that Tau Ceti was identified as one of the
stars on that map.
Since the original 1991 publication of this report tremendous strides
have been made in the discovery of possible new solar systems and the
detection of planets around other stars: With each passing day there is
more and more data that appears to strengthen the idea that solar
systems are quite common and very abundant.
For current efforts to find planets around Zeta1 and
Zeta2 please see
The Anglo-Australian Planet Search.
Both Zeta1(HD20766) and Zeta2 (HD20807) are
on their planet search list. Thanks to Stanton Friedman for this
information and Dr Chris Tinney who is head of Astronomy at the
Anglo-Australian Observatory:
cgt@aaoepp.aao.gov.au
In a report Mario Livio maintains that carbon production didn't
peak until about 2 billion years before the sun-earth were formed and
that advanced type intelligent life didn't emerge on Earth until ~ 4
million years ago: Of course assuming estimate errors (perhaps large)
this more than leaves room for the Zeta Reticuli Star System
with a current estimated age of ~ 7 billion years: Or, the Zeta
Reticuli Star System was in the formation process when this
carbon production peaked according to Livio. See,Extraterrestrial Civilizations: Coming of Age in the Milky Way
Comments from Bill Hamilton
Gliese 876 Red Dwarf Star reference Gliese 876C:
The planet in this system is the only one I have been given information
about. It is not what we would consider habitable, however it is
the location that they selected for their remote staging base, the one
that they use in a cooperative effort to study and interact with us. It
was described to me as being below the cloudy surface layer, as this
planet appears to have a great deal of gas on the surface.........
The Zeta Reticuli Incident by Terrence Dickinson
Published by AstroMedia
Corp, 1976, Milwaukee, WI 53202...
