Two Totally Unique Star Systems Discovered

esocid writes "Astronomers have spied a faraway star system that is so unusual, it was one of a kind — until its discovery helped them pinpoint a second one that was much closer to home. In a paper published in a recent issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Ohio State University astronomers and their colleagues suggest that these star systems are the progenitors of a rare type of supernova. In research funded by the National Science Foundation, they found a star system that is unusual, because it's what the astronomers have called a 'yellow supergiant eclipsing binary' — it contains two very bright, massive yellow stars that are very closely orbiting each other. In fact, the stars are so close together that a large amount of stellar material is shared between them, so that the shape of the system resembles a peanut."

Comments

Re:Unique or two

[Moonpie Madness]

hahaha. I was looking forward to seeing someone get animated over that pun.

But the fact is, it's actually semantically proper to modify the work "unique." The basic meaning "one of a kind" obviously can't be modified, but in today's world, Unique has other meanings, including "very unusual," which obviously can be modified.

so it's possible to say "very unique," and, in fact, saying it is a great way to provoke nutty folk.

Not to mention that "two unique" could also mean "two things that aren't similar to eachother".

Two?

[jgoemat]

If you have two of something, by definition it is no longer unique...

Re:Two?

[Minwee]

It seems for English speakers, uniqueness is not binary.

I'm puzzled by the thought that it should be.

Let's see what my old friends George and Charles Merriam and Noah Webster have to say on the subject:

"Many commentators have objected to the comparison or modification (as by somewhat or very) of unique, often asserting that a thing is either unique or it is not. Objections are based chiefly on the assumption that unique has but a single absolute sense, an assumption contradicted by information readily available in a dictionary. [...] In modern use both comparison and modification are widespread and standard [...]"

I'm disappointed

[morethanapapercert]

Despite the obvious importance of his work to a celestial arrangement of this kind, the article doesn't refer to Edourad Roche or the Roche Lobethat forms in the region between these two stars. When Roche Lobes overlap, it is a Contact Binary

"Unique" has evolved beyond your notions

[FreeUser]

You can decide any word means anything but the purpose of language is to communicate ideas clearly, and the only reasons for muddying a definition seem to be ignorance, attention-seeking, or malice

Or evolution in the language, in which unique has come to mean "very unusual".

1. existing as the only one or as the sole example; single; solitary in type or characteristics: a unique copy of an ancient manuscript.
2. having no like or equal; unparalleled; incomparable: Bach was unique in his handling of counterpoint.
3. limited in occurrence to a given class, situation, or area: a species unique to Australia.
4. limited to a single outcome or result; without alternative possibilities: Certain types of problems have unique solutions.
5. not typical; unusual: She has a very unique smile.

Now granted, it's the 5th definition of 5, but nevertheless, it is a legitimate definition of the word that exceeds the parameters you have laid down, and does allow for (a) a multiplicity of "unique" ("very unusual") items, as well as modifiers such as "very unique", etc.

The language has evolved beyond your notion of what it should be. Get over it.