BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!

Subject: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 08 May 07 - 07:11 AM

Please note the following paragraph:
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Astronomers say the star that became SN 2006gy expelled a large amount of its mass before it exploded. A huge star in the Milky Way, Eta Carinae, has already erupted in a similar fashion. So if it explodes as a supernova, it could present the best light show seen, because it is a mere 7,500 light years away from our planet.

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full article:

Giant exploding star outshines previous supernovas
POSTED: 4:44 p.m. EDT, May 7, 2007

Story Highlights• Star explosion brightest that's ever been observed
• A supernova involves the explosion of most of the material within a star
• SN 2006gy captured using orbiting and ground-based telescopes
• The explosion was about 238 million light years away from Earth

By Marsha Walton
CNN

(CNN) -- Scientists have just released images of the brightest stellar explosion recorded.

The supernova, known as SN 2006gy, was believed to be about 150 times as massive as the sun.

The explosion could help astronomers better understand how the first generation of stars in the universe died.

"This supernova stands out as the brightest supernova that's ever been observed," said Nathan Smith, astrophysicist at the University of California at Berkeley. (Animation shows the violent death of a star)

"The reason we're so excited is because it was so powerful we think it may require a new type of explosion mechanism that we've never observed before," said Smith at a news conference from NASA headquarters in Washington.

A supernova is a rare and often dramatic phenomenon that involves the explosion of most of the material within a star. Supernovas can be very bright for a short time and usually release huge amounts of energy.

A graduate student using a robotic telescope that was part of the Texas Supernova Search project first detected SN 2006gy on September 18, 2006.

For about 70 days it got brighter, peaking with a brightness comparable to 50 billion suns, much brighter than most other supernovas. Supernovas are usually bright for a couple of weeks at most.

Astronomers captured the star's demise using NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, and ground- based telescopes at the Lick Observatory in California and the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. The explosion was estimated about 238 million light years away from Earth.

Scientists believe supernova SN 2006gy expelled many of its outer layers in an eruption before its violent collapse.

When it exploded, it plowed into the cooler gases that had already been expelled, creating the brightest light show ever from a supernova.

Mario Livio, astrophysicist from the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, calls the discovery "extraordinarily intriguing" for a theorist such as himself.

"We may be learning something entirely new about how massive stars explode," said Livio.

"We are seeing a new type of explosion that has so far only existed in theory, and we believe the first stars in the universe exploded by this mechanism. It may provide a new lesson in the evolution of stars, and a star in our own galaxy may do the same thing tomorrow," he said.

Astronomers say the star that became SN 2006gy expelled a large amount of its mass before it exploded. A huge star in the Milky Way, Eta Carinae, has already erupted in a similar fashion. So if it explodes as a supernova, it could present the best light show seen, because it is a mere 7,500 light years away from our planet.

The orbiting Chandra X-ray Observatory, which began its mission July 23, 1999, can detect and capture images of X-ray sources that are billions of light years away. Scientists all over the world use it to get insight about high temperature events, such as black holes and collapsed stars that are millions of degrees Celsius.

Chandra is the largest satellite deployed from the space shuttle. The observatory was named after Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the Indian-American astrophysicist who worked at the University of Chicago and won the 1983 Nobel prize in physics. "Chandra" means "moon" or "luminous" in the Sanskrit language.

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Wolfgang
Date: 08 May 07 - 07:58 AM

A huge star in the Milky Way, Eta Carinae, has already erupted in a similar fashion. So if it explodes as a supernova, it could present the best light show seen, because it is a mere 7,500 light years away from our planet.

Yes, one will be able to read without artifical light during nighttime on the Southern hemisphere. The explosion is expected any time soon... in the next 50,000 years. The only remarkable effect upon the Earth will be visual BTW.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Midchuck
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:08 AM

What do you mean by "now?" If it blows now, we won't know it for another 7500 years - unless we get FTL space travel in the interim and go look.

The supernova that's being observed now happened when there weren't even dinosaurs yet.

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:28 AM

And if it blew 7,500 years less one day ago, it will show up tonight.

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: gnu
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:43 AM

??? "The explosion was estimated about 238 million light years away from Earth."

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: beardedbruce
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:48 AM

"A huge star in the Milky Way, Eta Carinae, has already erupted in a similar fashion. So if it explodes as a supernova, it could present the best light show seen, because it is a mere 7,500 light years away from our planet."

Eta Carinae is only 7,500 LY-

"peaking with a brightness comparable to 50 billion suns," means a whole lot of energy would still reach us, if Eta Carinae was to blow.

Not sure if it would be limited to visible light- X-rays and IR might have an effect, as well. But we will just reduce CO2 emmissions, blame the US, and it will be ok...

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Bill D
Date: 08 May 07 - 11:16 AM

it won't hurt us none...all we gotta do is ask the folks in the southern hemisphere to hold up mirrors, and we'll just bounce them beams somewheres else!

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: MMario
Date: 08 May 07 - 11:41 AM

well - less see, since it is 474 million times further away then the sun, the in-nava-lation from a putative 50 billion sunpowers would be approx 2.2 * 10^-7%.

Pluto recieves about 7*10^-4 the amount earth gets from our sun. So that mean Pluto gets about 3000 times the amount of energy from our sun as Earth would get from the nova.

Or the nova will effect us about as much as the sun would effect a planet 54 times further away then pluto.

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 08 May 07 - 01:26 PM

If it blows now, we won't know it for another 7500 years

If we know that the eruption happened, then the eruption happened at least 7500 years ago.

If the supernova begins a week after the eruption, then we will see the results of the eruption in about a week, 7500 years after a week after the other thing that was 7500 years ago.

In astronomy, one must distinguish between the things that aren't really there, and the things that really aren't there at the time we learn that they are here because they were there.

Clear now?

John

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 08 May 07 - 07:37 PM

wibble, John....

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Peace
Date: 08 May 07 - 07:49 PM

You are all getting close, but no banana yet. This is a Nova. THIS is a Super Nova. Notice the dimming in colour. Spectroscopy would determine when the red shift occurred and what happened to the impulse wave so obviously being experienced by the guy in the gray picture.

(Hey, this science stuff is EASy.)

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:37 PM

Why am I painting the livingroom?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Peace
Date: 08 May 07 - 08:40 PM

If you paint it red, the colour shift will turn it gray in a few light years. Almost a guarantee.

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Peace
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:03 PM

Eta Carinae

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: Peace
Date: 08 May 07 - 09:13 PM

Easy-to-read (about Eta Carinae).

Subject: RE: BS: only 238 million LY away-TAKE SHELTER!
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 11 May 07 - 02:06 AM

Cosmic Log chat on Supernovae speculates on effects on earth that could result from Eta Carinae going supernova.

Could be an interesting short read for the mildly curious, and perhaps offers a more understandable notion of what it's all about for those less techie. ????

Also suggests a couple of supposedly interesting novels for the SciFi buffs.

John