# Is the Sun's ancestor still around?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-suns-ancestor-still-around/686748>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 23, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-suns-ancestor-still-around/686748 "2014-04-23T05:38:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![jimbuff314](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c57346/32.png) [@jimbuff314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimbuff314)\
**Post date:** [May 10, 2014, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-suns-ancestor-still-around/686748/21 "2014-05-10T01:05:35Z")

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> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> Where did that number come from?

I didn’t see that you got a factual answer. (If the answer you got is indeed decipherable, I apologize) From the Wiki article on the Milky Way galaxy:

> [@](#):
>
> The rotational period is about 240 million years at the position of the Sun.

The sun is ~4.5 billion years old. 4.5 billion / 240 million ~ 18 laps. (Actually, Sun’s age is best figure 4.567 billion years. 4.567 billion / 240 million ~ 19 laps.)

Of course, over the age of the Milky Way, dust has completely obscured the starting line (not to mention the running lanes) so we have no idea how far into the 20th lap we currently have progressed.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\
**Post date:** [May 11, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-suns-ancestor-still-around/686748/22 "2014-05-11T03:04:52Z")

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Its labeled as HD 162826 [in the constellation Hercules.](http://www.ibtimes.com/astronomers-discover-suns-long-lost-sibling-massive-stars-planets-could-host-1582754) How the hell did it get all of the way over there? Not very sociable if you ask me.

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