We are now photographing other worlds - and doing so from Hawaii no less. Using adaptive optics from several telescopes neighbored on a volcano, earth-bound observers have finally photographed an object circling another star. The object is a brown dwarf, which describes neither its color or its size.

A brown dwarf has more mass than even a large planet but still not enough sustain stellar ignition. In fact, astronomers estimate this "dwarf" actually masses more than a dozen times all Sol's planets combined.

Previous worlds have been discovered using indirect evidence. The weak wobble they induced in their sun allowed their detection. But of this beauty we copped a photo, though it looks alot like a bright dot. The dwarf's star is 15 Sge, some sixty light years away. It's located in the constellation Sagitta - that's the Arrow, not the Archer. And that's sufficient cue for me to talk about his ship again.

The assertion from this column two weeks ago continues to be challenged that the NX-01 is far larger than previously suggested (275m long versus the original 190m or even Drexler's intermediate 225m), and much wider than Kirk's ship some hundred years in its "future." Maybe it is just a mistake, and someone will correct it shortly. (I checked the official site before posting this column and the larger values remain.)

Graphics of the 225m scale, unfortunately not detailed with measurements, have been made available. Since we're only talking about two increments around twenty percent apart - 190 to 225, 225 to 275 - it won't seem like much inside the ship. Reasonable bridge dimensions and deck heights tuck into either larger size.

Does size really matter? Of course not. Should quality stories come along to billow the sails of the series, no one will care how big a ship carried us there. Should it crash and burn however, the carelessness with these seminal details could well be a reason. Attention to detail usually improves a work.

The similar (and not evolutionary) scale of NX-01 and NCC-1701 should satisfy us that "Enterprise" is not so much a prequel to canon as it is its own canon of a different order. A parallel canon, in which mankind takes to space some 100 years earlier than Roddenberry's vision (but similarly went on to build a few big starships manned with valiant crews).

It's a new show. It's what classic Trek would look like were it spec'd and sold as a series today - less millions of built-in fans seeing something new!