A
Amaris
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It may not be really big, earth changing news, but it's still fascinating.
Thanks for the info, Squiggy.
J.
NASA's making a big announcment on the 14th May 2008
- Thread starter The Squire of Gothos
- Start date
It may not be really big, earth changing news, but it's still fascinating.
Thanks for the info, Squiggy.
J.
I really should watch more of South Park.
OK, so it's a supernova a bit over 100 light years from us.
How far behind the visible light & gamma is the shock wave? Granted it'll be dispersed a great time by the time it reaches Sol...
AG
How far behind the visible light & gamma is the shock wave? Granted it'll be dispersed a great time by the time it reaches Sol...
AG
Hold on ... the middle of the Milky Way is considerably more than 140 light-years away. If something exploded in the middle of our galaxy today, we wouldn't be able to detect it for another 30.000 years or so.
Maybe THAT's the big announcement ... NASA now has the technology for superluminal imaging?
Maybe THAT's the big announcement ... NASA now has the technology for superluminal imaging?
It's astronomical convention to refer to events at great distance by when we would've observed them, rather than when they objectively happened. Not much reason to do otherwise without any way to outrun light. Then there's the fact that time moves at different rates depending on relative speed, so if we used objective time-frames the length of time since the event would be different depending on if we were using the rate of time on Earth or at the event or at any other arbitrary point.
The point is, when they say the nova occurred a hundred-odd years ago, they mean that's when it would've been observed occurring on Earth.
The point is, when they say the nova occurred a hundred-odd years ago, they mean that's when it would've been observed occurring on Earth.
That's it?????
Oh, and we're being invaded by aliens. Move along.
Interesting, but disappointing nonetheless. 
What a let down. A supernova is an even less exciting discovery than a black hold.
Reminds me of when that inventor said he was going to announce an invention that would revolutionize travel and everyone was all "Will this be a hover car?" and it turned out to be the Segway.
Reminds me of when that inventor said he was going to announce an invention that would revolutionize travel and everyone was all "Will this be a hover car?" and it turned out to be the Segway.
So, the Brookings Report, which NASA authored, pointed out forty-seven (almost fifty!) years ago that the parties most affected by the discovery of alien life would be religious fundamentalists and scientists. In fifty years, science and the secular imagination has come a long way.
Yesterday, the Vatican announced that Catholicism would be compatible with the discovery of alien life. Today NASA has a "big announcement to make".
Softening the blow, much?
EDIT: Curse me for not reading to the end of this thread first. And for thinking today was the 13th. Rats rats rats.
Yesterday, the Vatican announced that Catholicism would be compatible with the discovery of alien life. Today NASA has a "big announcement to make".
Softening the blow, much?
EDIT: Curse me for not reading to the end of this thread first. And for thinking today was the 13th. Rats rats rats.
Yeah but if you spill the beans early then you might disappear and granted some people on the TNZ may rejoice but I would be sad along with a bunch of other people.
And I just go "Wow, they actually sold one?"
The minute Chandra became involved, I had a feeling it would be something that NASA would be far more enthusiastic about than the average person.
Well, in defense of the NASA folks (something I rarely do but feel compelled to now for some reason), such events like this special kind of supernova are measured in cosmic terms. It is my impression that something like this only happens once every several thousand (possible million) years and for someone who knows the scale and scope involved, for it to happen in their lifetime definitely gets the geek juices flowing, I would expect.
It doesn't mean much to us because:
1) We're not all scientists dedicating our lives to looking for cosmic phenomena and
2) We're all more hoping to find a fleet of D-7's out there flying by. Anything else is kind-of a let-down.
Yes, it's generally disappointing, but it means something to someone and I guess that's ultimately what counts, especially if it does help us understand the universe a little better.
I, too, am confused about the whole "140 light-year" thing. Something there just doesn't add up.
It doesn't mean much to us because:
1) We're not all scientists dedicating our lives to looking for cosmic phenomena and
2) We're all more hoping to find a fleet of D-7's out there flying by. Anything else is kind-of a let-down.
Yes, it's generally disappointing, but it means something to someone and I guess that's ultimately what counts, especially if it does help us understand the universe a little better.
I, too, am confused about the whole "140 light-year" thing. Something there just doesn't add up.
I am not hoping a fleet of D-7's fly by!
Heh...well, yeah, but y'all know what I mean. 
"I am Kor, military governor of Terra. You are now subjects of the Klingon Empire. You will find there are many rules and regulations. They will be posted. Violation of the smallest of them will be punished by death. And don't smile too much."
The actual supernova is about 28,000 light years from here toward the galactic core. Thus the light has taken 28,000 years to reach us. We are observing it at a point about 140 years after it occurred. It's a matter of standard convention to refer to stellar events when we would have seen them, not when the actually happened. So if there wasn't so much dust in the way, people on Earth could have seen this supernova about 140 years ago.
edited to add: Phil Plait's Bad Astronomy site talks about the supernova and why it's so important to astronomers. Plus a cool picture!
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