Supernova nightmares

David Marshall — Fri, 11 May 2007 10:21:37 GMT

I remember when CBS resurrected THE TWILIGHT ZONE in the 80s they ran an episode in their first season called THE STAR. They found a burnt out husk of a planet in what remained of a solar system after a sun when nova. The people of the system knew the nova was coming and created an underground storage facility to preserve the creations of their civilization. Their art, their music, their culture, their writings and so on. Turns out that when their sun went nova, it was the light that guided the the three wise men to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus. I'm not terribly religious, but it was a very moving story and well done.

Supernova nightmares

John R. B., Middletown, Va — Fri, 11 May 2007 11:33:18 GMT

Are we to assume that there is no defense to these events? Besides intergalactic migration?

Supernova nightmares

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:21:50 GMT

It seems to me we should be more concerned with the a major flaring happening on the sun that could be so strong as to cause us direct harm. I don't lose sleep over supernovas happening next door in our galaxy.

Supernova nightmares

Brandon, Franklin MA — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:33:59 GMT

We still have not answered the basic question here:

What is the closest safe distance, in light years, for a supernova, of each type, to go off and be spectacular yet not damaging?

10 ly, 50 ly, 100 ly, 1000 ly ? There has to be some science available from the astrophysics community to give us a good approximation of this distance.

Thank you

Supernova nightmares

Ray McDonnell — Fri, 11 May 2007 13:35:52 GMT

Regarding your request for a recommendation for supernova tales, there is one I remember from an Outer Limits episode called Inconstant Moon, which iteself is based on a short story of the same name by Larry Niven.

Here is the story from wikipedia:

The unnamed narrator notices that the moon is glowing much brighter than ever before. The people he meets as the story begins all praise the moon's increased beauty but lack the scientific background to understand its cause. However the narrator surmises that the Sun has gone nova, the day side of the Earth is already destroyed, and this is the last night of his life. He then calls and visits his girlfriend Leslie, presuming her ignorant of the situation, but she realizes it independently when Jupiter brightens with appropriate delay; they then enjoy their last night on the town, before rain and winds start.

Later, he realizes one other possibility. In case he is right, they find appropriate supplies and seek refuge from the coming natural disasters in Leslie's high-rise apartment. The second possibility turns out to be correct: the Earth has merely been struck by an enormous solar flare. The vaporized seawater leads to torrential rains, hurricanes and floods. Most (if not all) people on the Eastern Hemisphere are presumed dead. The story ends at the break of an overcast, gray morning, with the narrator "wonder[ing] if our children would colonize Europe, or Asia, or Africa".

So not a true supernova tale, maybe a 50% supernova tale.

Supernova nightmares

Mike, Davenport, Iowa — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:24:06 GMT

So, let me get this straight. I understand that visually witnessing the Supernova is in direct correlation to it's distance from the Earth in Light years. So, would the gamma rays travel at the same speed, faster or slower?

Supernova nightmares

Gary-O, Murfreesboro, TN — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:26:12 GMT

Isn't the Puppeteer race from the Ringworld series of books fleeing a supernova spawned gamma-ray burst? Their solution, if I recall, is to move all of their planets out of the way. Couldn't we just do that ourselves.

Supernova nightmares

Reg, central CT — Fri, 11 May 2007 14:43:49 GMT

I think it is foolish to not have earth detection systems for large meteors, black holes or other objects that could lead to global extinction. We should grow up as a species.

Supernova nightmares

Alan Boyle — Fri, 11 May 2007 15:38:45 GMT

Brandon, the research in ApJ Letters looked at a hypothetical gamma-ray burst 2 kiloparsecs from Earth, or about 6,500 light-years. So I suppose you'd be looking out at least 10,000 light-years when considering the risk. Of course, the gamma-ray burst would have to be pointing right at us ... because astronomers believe the jets of a gamma-ray burst are highly focused, or "collimated." Eta Carinae's polar orientation is not in line with Earth; that's why we can see the "hourglass" shape of the star's debris clouds. Thus, astronomers think Eta Car would not pose a threat even if it went supernova. It would be somewhat spectacular but not dangerous (a tenth the brightness of the full moon, concentrated in a single point ... visible during the day ... a dim light for reading at night).

To get to the doomsday scenario, we'd have to be on the receiving end of exceedingly bad luck ... basically a cosmic sniper shot from quadrillions of miles away.

Supernova nightmares

Cameron Fauth, Whitefish Montana — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:02:26 GMT

It seems to me that we may pretty much be doomed already. If it is possible for a supernova to explode and send radiation and large chunks of mass hurtling out in all directions, then isnt it possible that some of those are already heading towards the Earth? Looks like we may need to seriously need to expand our space research and exploration programs so that we can be completly prepared for "curve balls" that may be thrown our way. Common sense is mankinds greatest strength so we should start using more of it. We always get warnings and they point to some looming disaster and yet we do nothing to stop or prevent these deisasters. Looks like we are getting a little full of ourselves, maybe?

Supernova nightmares

Fred Trout — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:39:02 GMT

1) "The Star" is a short story by Arthur C Clarke, upon which the Twilight Zone episode is based.

2) The last I read indicated the Puppeteers were fleeing a black hole at the center of the galaxy, which was a novel idea at the time Larry Niven employed it.

3) Gamma rays, X-Rays, Ultraviolet rays, Visible Light rays, Infrared rays, microwaves, and Radio waves ALL travel at the speed of light. Cosmic rays are a little bit slower.

Supernova nightmares

S. Okeson — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:39:26 GMT

Most of the material I have read suggests that a Type 2 Supernova (that is the supernova of a large star resulting from the collapse of its core when it exhausts its fuel) would probably not affect the earth if it occured at a distance greater than 100 light-years. A type 2 supernova occuring at a distance of 26-light years has the potential to destroy half of the earth's ozone. Since there are few large stars of this type close to earth, the odds of a type 2 impacting the biosphere is extremely small.

Eta Carinae is a super-giant star and is therefore expected to explode as a type 2 supernova. It is 7,500 light-years from Earth.

A type 1a supernova (a supernova involving a white dwarf star in a bionary star system) would be much harder to predict because the star's involved are much smaller and dimmer. A type 1a supernova can expel 5-to-10 times the amount of stellar mass as a type 2 and therefore can be more dangerous. One article I read suggested that a type 1a supernova could affect the Earth's biosphere if it occured within a 1000-light-year distance from earth. It did not elaborate to what degree the earth would be affected at that distance or how it came to its conclusion.

The closest known candidate for a type 1a supernova is IK Pegasi. It is 150-light-years from earth.

Supernova nightmares

Pam G, Brooklyn, NY — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:51:23 GMT

I have to admit, when I first heard the story it gave me a chill. Actually, the new theory regarding life cycles on Earth and the solar system bouncing up and down in the disc of the Milky Way was the first one to freak me out. It's a reminder of how little we really know about our Universe and how little control we have over our tiny little lives. Makes you get philosophical. Maybe the lowly cockroach has something to teach us about survival.

Supernova nightmares

Chris Eldridge, Harrisburg PA — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:56:23 GMT

Hi Alan, I think it’s well worth a look at but, to me, all this gamma ray death stuff really does put the “doom” into doomsayers and it’s that kind of hype that causes people to avoid far more likely and realistic doomsday scenarios. I’m very skeptical that a star can cause such bursts by itself and you probably really would need a neutron star collision to get it. I’m also a bit leery of the evidence behind this SUPER supernova. From what I gathered from the article it didn’t appear to be anything unusual but there was something different about its spectrogram that made them “infer” that it was so large. Isn’t Chandra having problems with its spectrograph (a thin coat of oil covering its optics?)? Can fusion even hold up a star so massive?

PS. Hey I noticed a new theory for dark matter emerging within the galaxy not within a halo! I’m still betting on Iron worlds and would love to know if that nova simulation last month showed any signs of throwing off vast chunks of Iron over 100 Jovian masses.

Supernova nightmares

Rob of Seattlish — Fri, 11 May 2007 19:49:09 GMT

Gary-O,
Yes, the Puppeteer race were flee the supernovas (they are extreme paranoids) that would eventually take place at the center of our galaxy (forward thinking paranoids) by moving their planets out of the galaxy at less than relativistic speeds (patient paranoids) Thats why Ringworld caught their 'eye', because the incredibly dense ring material, oriented toward the galactic plane, would make a suitable hiding place. Provided it were unpopulated of course.

Supernova nightmares

Regina Philangi — Fri, 11 May 2007 19:49:17 GMT

You guys are nerds. I love it.

Supernova nightmares

Harald Jensen, Guatemala, Guatemala — Fri, 11 May 2007 19:50:52 GMT

I would like to insist! How would the calculations be, on that gamma ray burst. How fast do they travel, when should we start the countdown? I don't understand the light year calculations of an interstellar occurance. Could you explain? Does it matter, how powerfull the telescope is?

Supernova nightmares

D.J. , Annapolis, MD — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:38:53 GMT

We have a lot of fixable problems here on the planet w/o looking at problems like gamma ray bursts, meteors, and cosmic junk that we would be able to do little or nothing about.

Supernova nightmares

Tim Kyger, Burke, Virginia — Fri, 11 May 2007 20:57:25 GMT

Book: "Iron Sunrise," by Charles Stross. It isn't about a supernova per se, but about the effect of one that has been deliberately set off to murder a planet. More precisely, it's about the search for the murderers and the consequences of that search.

"Iron sunrise." A wonderful description of what a supernova *is.*

Supernova nightmares

Frank Glover — Fri, 11 May 2007 21:01:47 GMT

I wish I could remember what it was called, and which collection it was in, but Isaac Asimov once did an essay on this matter. And if I remember correctly, his conclusion was that we'd be in trouble if there was a supernova within 20-odd light years. (note that we don't have to be outright toasted, just pumping enough additional energy into our environment could have major climate altering effects...)

On the other hand, none of the stars within that radius seem to pose such a threat for several billion years.

Supernova nightmares

Wayne, Los Angeles, CA — Fri, 11 May 2007 21:51:55 GMT

Wow...all these people panicking over nothing. An Earth full of people must exist for Christ to return and rule it for 1,000 years. Think of the Bible as a history book written way ahead of time. And for all you atheists out there, the Bible had accurately predicted the Persian Gulf war, including the length of time down to the exact day. Read up on the seven seals in Revelations if you don't believe me.

Supernova nightmares

jcppsu — Fri, 11 May 2007 21:57:49 GMT

The comments left here are obviously those of intellectuals. Whether you are hit by a car or a super nova the results are the same...you only die once. So don't worry about it and enjoy the 7499 years that our screwed up civilization may have left.

Supernova nightmares

Phil — Fri, 11 May 2007 23:22:53 GMT

Even if we were to migrate - eventually the human race is done in. Why go to the expense and worry of trying to delay the inevitable?

Supernova nightmares

Clay Johanson, Charlotte, NC — Fri, 11 May 2007 23:57:45 GMT

The main reason that a farther-away supernova poses less risk to Earth is that radiated energy is inversely proportional to the SQUARE of the distance from the radiating object. So, assuming two identical stars go supernova, if one is 500 ly from Earth and the other is 1000 ly from Earth, the energy we'd receive from the 1000 ly supernova would be one QUARTER as much as from the 500 ly supernova ( 1/2 ^ 2 ).

A scarier scenario than a supernova would be a collision of two or more neutron stars somewhere in the galaxy. If multiple neutron stars collided, the resulting gamma ray burst would spread through the entire galaxy at the speed of light in EVERY direction and would, over the course of 100,000 years or so, cause a galaxywide extinction event from which it would be impossible to hide. And no, we would have NO warning at all that it was about to hit us. (See Stephen Baxter's "Manifold: Space" for an explanation of this "galactic reset" scenario.)

Supernova nightmares

Ahmad, Manitoba, Canada — Sat, 12 May 2007 00:06:24 GMT

Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation, and all forms of electromagnetic radiation (this includes radio waves, x-rays, and infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light) travel at the speed of light. When you see a supernova thats x number of lightyears away, that event happend x number of years ago, and the light took x number of years to get to earth. So you are really looking into the past. The size of the telescope just lets you see dimmer objects, which may be farther away, and therefore older.

As to whether or not we are in danger of a supernova affecting life on earth, I would think that most of the stars in the galaxy are orientated so their poles are more or less perpendicular to the galactic plane. Or, at the very least, not pointed at earth. So the chances of a star going supernova close enough to the earth to cause significant damage being orientated in the right way is probably very small.

Supernova nightmares

Mark — Sat, 12 May 2007 00:18:55 GMT

Solar flares and CMEs are pretty interesting for the same reason. As high and mighty as some people think they are, any evidence that they, or anything else on this planet, ever existed could be wiped clean with a mere few millisecond flick of our own sun, let alone that of the universe in general. With 9 minutes of light time between here and the sun, we'd never see it coming and wouldn't know what hit us. Click, lights out! Theory points toward the sun eventually expanding beyond the orbit of the earth which will turn this place into ash so one way or another, man's final legacy may be dead probes sitting on Mars and the moons of Jupiter and Saturn.

Supernova nightmares

James M. G. Ashcraft III, Wichita, Kansas — Sat, 12 May 2007 01:00:49 GMT

I really agree with Mike from Iowa. So if we see the Supernova with our own two eyes, aren't we pretty much done for?

Supernova nightmares

Chris Eldridge, Harrisburg PA — Sat, 12 May 2007 03:20:52 GMT

One might infer that if we do establish off-world colonies for the protection of our race that they at least should be protected from such events - perhaps buried under the surface of Mars or within an asteroid somehow.

Supernova nightmares

Delmar Fairchild, Barron, Wisconsin — Sat, 12 May 2007 04:16:30 GMT

The very nature of not knowing what will happen tomorrow is what life is all about. This is why the earliest of mankind formed an opinion that there must be something to protect us from the scary things and that when we die, we go to a place where nothing will hurt us ever again.

Supernova nightmares

ramkumar :coimbature — Sat, 12 May 2007 04:18:14 GMT

as ETa carnae is a type 2 supernova existing 7500 light years away the possibility of disastarous consequences on eath is rather less unless the cosmic/gamma rays are pointed directly to earth.

Avoiding such cosmic catastrophies is not at all practical . Imagine the scenario of complete disintegration of galastic core where the whole galaxy with its multiplicities of civilisations any (considering frank darks equation ) this with cease to exist.

Supernova nightmares

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sat, 12 May 2007 04:49:45 GMT

Mark...yes, as per my post 3rd from the top. But then Hendrix called it "3rd stone from the Sun".

I have always wondered if the sun is capable of involking mass extinctions. A nuclear blast so impossible as to send the earth's magnetic field into insanity.

Supernova nightmares

Dan, Vancouver WA — Sat, 12 May 2007 06:40:54 GMT

All this doomsday stuff is making me nervous, I think I'll have another cigarette.

Supernova nightmares

Roger, Barrington, Illinois — Sat, 12 May 2007 14:15:05 GMT

It si silly that folks suggest we have an "early warning system", i.e., "Looks like we may need to seriously need to expand our space research and exploration programs so that we can be completely prepared for "curve balls" that may be thrown our way. Common sense is mankind's greatest strength so we should start using more of it. We always get warnings and they point to some looming disaster and yet we do nothing to stop or prevent these disasters."

Any signal sent back to earth to tell us that gamma rays or cosmic rays were now headed in our direction, would not travel to us faster than the rays we want to learn about. Duh.

Supernova nightmares

Ron Graham — Sat, 12 May 2007 14:27:12 GMT

I think you all need to get a grip. Who really cares? If it happens there is absolutely NOTHING we humans can do to stop it. The idea of needing a "warning system" is silly as when we see it, its here. Concentrate on enjoying life and your loved ones as if gamma rays, huge chunks of space debris, or a looming black hole suddenly pop up in earths path, we don't have a thing to say or do about it. Frankly its about time for mother earth to get a good housecleaning and then have a few hundred million years to recover from all the harm we have done her. Perhaps the next thing to crawl out of the sea and evolve will be smarter than us...

Supernova nightmares

Todd B. — Sat, 12 May 2007 21:46:56 GMT

It is interesting, but at the risk of belaboring the obvious...the greatest risks humanity faces come frome humanity itself.

Supernova nightmares

J. Hobart — Sun, 13 May 2007 03:24:02 GMT

It's true that an early warning system can't alert you to incoming radiation any faster than it actually gets here... But it could certainly let you see changes in the behavior of stars that suggest they are about to go nova -- and that is what we'd be looking for.

It's also true that collisions between black holes and/or neutron stars have been considered as possible sources for gamma-ray-bursts. I don't know whether the radiation released by such events would be collimated or not; but if it isn't, and the radiation is uniformly distributed in all directions, that would make its intensity far less than the "beams" seen at the poles of a supernova. As far as detection goes, circling ultradense objects are the most likely ones to emit gravitational waves, and those would be produced well in advance of the collision as their orbits decay. Assuming we were close enough to detect those waves (and be threatened by the subsequent collision), the rate of change of their frequency would provide an excellent timeline for that collision, and might even enable us to determine their orientation relative to the earth.

I've seen many comments from people who are utterly defeatist about such calamities -- and understandably so, given their cosmic scale. But such people might be interested in the story of another individual who, facing a catastrophe of global proportions, is said to have built an ark that saved our species -- and all of the others on our planet, besides. In that story, the naysayers didn't fare so well...

Supernova nightmares

Des Emery,The Carborundum Chronicles,St.Thomas,ON,Canada — Sun, 13 May 2007 04:21:18 GMT

I don't think we need to worry about old Sol suddenly blowing his top and blasting all our constituent atoms into the void. Science, on which we all rely, says Sol is a stable, second-generation type of star, going about its business of converting hydrogen to helium and emitting the resultant energy into space. Earth is within the 'habitable zone' of Sol, so we evolved and exist here, the rest of the planets being - as the old song says - either too hot or too cold.

Yes, if Sol went nova right now, I could finish this letter before the wavefront could reach us in about nine minutes and make my efforts useless. But science says that is the most unlikely thing to occur, in spite of intermittent minor changes within the body and surface of Sol. Then again, science also says that anything can happen. But I'd rather take my chances with Sol than with Global Warming which science says is real and more imminent and more easily seen, for sure.

Supernova nightmares

Robert Potter, Minnesota — Sun, 13 May 2007 04:37:59 GMT

What a wonderful conversation...hee hee hee... Like we humans have the capacity to get beyond the petty religious wars and wasteful use of resources for the benefit of a fraction of our populations.. Let alone devising methods for preventing mass extinctions on our planet from gamma ray bursts. ha ha ha...

Supernova nightmares

Frank Glover — Sun, 13 May 2007 19:05:56 GMT

Wayne, what if we believe in some other religion, with a different prophesy? (assuming we must believe in one at all) Can they all be right? Could it be that none of them are right? By what indepenent measn would you know, other than wait-and-see? (And all of that quite apart from wether a deity[ies] exists or not) This is the biggest reason I'm an agnostic.

And more to the point, it's the biggest reason you can't base public policy on such things.

None of us can know if/when divine intervention will occur, or the nature of it, if it does. Therefore, it's safer to not make it part of public policy, and stick with those things we can make logical arguments for (or against) and stand some chance of proving, or, more importantly, disproving.

Religious faith can be good, but it doesn't lend itself to the latter.

Supernova nightmares

greg deaton,tucson,az — Sun, 13 May 2007 21:16:08 GMT

live,love,laugh...duck when needed.the rest is hubris

Supernova nightmares

Thomas Ashby, Calgary — Sun, 13 May 2007 23:13:40 GMT

Des Emery..the sun will never go nova. It's is of insufficient mass. It will swell to a red giant almost to the orbit of Mars in about 4 billion years.

Then collapse to a white dwarf sheding mass and creating a planetary nebula much like this perhaps.

http://www.celestiamotherlode.net/catalog/
images/screenshots/extrasolar/M_57_
NGC6720_RingNebula__AstroBoy.jpg

Supernova nightmares

Austin Bergeron, Kansas City, KS. — Mon, 14 May 2007 05:47:50 GMT

good call, mark from illinois. good call. i was wondering about the same thing when i read the comment. when it comes down to it, i would imagine that there is larger likelyhood that our sun will expand to where we will be out of the climate "green zone" where it's not too hot and not too cold. then stuff will really start to turn sour. as far as preventative measures to be taken as a species.... well thats kind of out of the question. if you are familiar with astrophsyics on even a highschool level, you should understand that mankind is pretty much stuck in our own solar system, or that of a VERY close by one- due to einstein's theory of relativity and special theory. we can't move that fast. period. and so far as of yet, i haven't heard of any new planets being found even close to ours. so basically, we're screwed if it comes down to it.

Supernova nightmares

josh, memphis, TN — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:14:36 GMT

supernova movie? try arnofsky's "the fountain" on DVD may 15th i think. maybe not so scientific, but it's pretty deep if you're into watching movies after a puffing the magic dragon

Supernova nightmares

Mark Wheeling WV — Mon, 14 May 2007 15:39:22 GMT

"Aftermath" by Charles Sheffield is a very good science fiction book whose premise is that a nova happens in Alpha Centuri. There is also a second book in the series, but I am unsure of the title.

Supernova nightmares

Ysmael Q, Jacksonville, FL — Mon, 14 May 2007 17:44:16 GMT

Has anybody ever found the center of the 'Big Bang" that started our universe yet? Is there really Infinite Parallel Universes? If so, does that mean there were Infinite Parallel Big Bangs that started them all?

Supernova nightmares

Mark Edwards — Mon, 14 May 2007 19:23:32 GMT

What has been discussed is a mass extinction event such as the Ordovician extinction. What has not been addressed is a significant partial gamma radiation event. Such an event may not obliterate the ozone layer but significantly reduce it. It has been well established that evolution is nonlinear and occurs with bursts of new species. Two major ingredients for rapid evolutionary change could be increased gamma radiation to cause massive mutation combined with climatic change causing a change in the environment of those species. These gamma burst events may be one such mechanism to fuel evolutionary change. Is there a mechanism by which the past occurrences of these events have been recorded? The Iridium layer was the signature of massive cosmic impacts. Is there any similar signature of gamma radiation events which could then be correlated against the fossil record? A universal truth is that which causes the greatest destruction can, at times, also cause the greatest creation.

Supernova nightmares

Robert Honderih Gravette, Ark — Tue, 15 May 2007 17:30:17 GMT

i greatly enjoyed this article, and ALL the comments made.Perhaps our society would be far better if we communicated on more of the world's problems, even suspected ones, with this kind of acceptance and mutual respect for each other's opinions and thoughts. along with some humor too, of course.

Supernova nightmares

JR, San Jose CA — Tue, 15 May 2007 22:07:21 GMT

How about we find a solution to IEDs which are killing our children now and worry about Universal Wrath when we actually have a clue about that currently non existant technology.

Supernova nightmares

Chuck Sweet — Tue, 15 May 2007 22:28:00 GMT

Of Course, Eta Carinae has most likely gone and blown her top already, with 7,500 years lag time for us to observe this fact we may see it tomorrow or mayhaps not until a long time down the generations from us. Just a Cheery Note!!

Supernova nightmares

Codie Vickers — Fri, 18 May 2007 16:46:44 GMT

As usual Plaitt treats us to more of his retarded nonsense. His site "bad astronomy" couldn't be more appropriately named. He is a textbook example of a poor researcher. His continual appeals to authority to back up his ludicrous claims regarding cogent and well-supported hypotheses are comical and his site is clearly just a revenue-generating blog.

Supernova nightmares

Eric Pfeifer, Columbus,OH — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:54:13 GMT

It's obvious Codie is some sort of shill, probaby for the wonderful zetatalk site. Next Codie will start talking about brown dwarves who are "dithering between two foci".
God bless us, everyone...

Supernova nightmares

Dave — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 15:22:01 GMT

Just reading the posts. Perhaps people should read the book "The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes" by Richard Firestone, Allen West,& Simon Warwick-Smith. The earth has been hit with gamma rays @ 40,000 +/- years BC (the same time, the science community has identified the sudden change from "type O" blood to include A+, A-, & AB) and the debris field did hit the earth about 25,000 to 30,000 years later. Actually the date is around 12,000 years BC. The levels of iridium prove it and the research has been accepted by the scientic communty for pier review. If your interested, the debris field did wipe out the mammoths and everything else in front of it. The debris was moving @ about 70,000 mph and cleaned the North American continent in seconds. The field hit the earth from the north and impacted at Hudsons Bay. If you look at the geology of the Bay from the space shuttle shots, the locations of the two main craters do not need explaining.

Supernova nightmares

Billy buck — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 23:35:33 GMT

Rather than wondering if we are going to get blown up.Wouldn't it be better to enjoy life while you can.
Reality is preception that all it is. Example,if you walk out to the curb for the morning paper it seem like such a small task.But send an ant to do the same and it would be impossible .So which is it,simple or impossible it neither and its both Its preception. If you are spritual then your on your way to betterment anyway and if not, when you die one second is as a zillion year.So everything thats going to happen is knocking at your front door even know and has already happened from a dead man view if he could only have one, so whats the fuss.

Supernova nightmares

Unidentified,Unidentified,Unidentified — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:29:18 GMT

if this star were to supernovae or the new breed of supernovae the hypernovae were to occur it would not effect us it would most likely fry our satalites but thats bassically it

Supernova nightmares

macky,kuronadal,manila — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:24:12 GMT

good luck to the astronomers@@@@@@@@

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Rich in G'burg — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:35:36 GMT

No real secret that "Eric Kotani" is the pen name for physicist Yoji Kondo.

Supernova nightmares

Philip J. Calamatas — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:51:20 GMT

Hi Alain

There are a few other points that should be made about nasty stars:

#1 There is only circumstantial evidence that Gamma Ray Burst (GRB) are produce from the poles of the star’s surface atmosphere. It may be more likely that they are produced from the poles of the degenerate-matter-core that the massive star collapses into (pulsars are a good example of this). Thus the fact that Eta Carinae seems to show that its atmospheric poles are not currently pointing at Earth doesn’t means that the GRB will eventually emit in that direction.

#2 There are some astronomers that believe that GRB are not beamed events but rather a flash event emanating from the whole star not just its poles. The main reason most don’t believe it is that it would mean that a super nova explosion would be thousands of times more powerful if the GRB were radiated uniformly at the same intensity as a beam and they cannot believe that a star can produce such huge amount of energy. However, there is a new category of super nova that is presently referred as a Hype Nova, where it is believed that the entire star is destroyed in the explosion leaving no remnant (i.e. Neutron Star, Quark Star, or Black Hole, etc). The star actually disintegrates into a Matter Anti-matter explosion. This radiates the GRB in all directions simultaneously. Again not good to have Eta Carinae a mere 8000 light years away.

#3 Even if Eta Carinae’s explosive GRB does radiate as predicted, there is another star that we should be worried about, that being WR-104 (at 8000 LYs), which is pointing almost directly at us, And this Wolf-Rayet star may actually detonate much sooner than Eta Carinae. There are some good actual photos showing the spiraling animation of this star system (aimed at us) on the net.

#4 We don’t have to look very far to find other stars that could harm the earth, such as the red super giant “Betelgeuse” (640 LYs) that seems to be collapsing right before our eyes (Orion may soon lose his shoulder). Or even Sirius’s pup a mere 8.6 light years away, but expected to blow many millions (or perhaps billions) of years hence. Currently Sirius is burning hydrogen donated from its pup, but when Sirius starts to expand (red giant stage) the pup will take back what it loan to Sirius and when it exceeds is Chandrasekhar limit (approximately 1.4 solar masses) it blows as a Type 1A supernova. And at 8.6 LYs the earth might well roast. The pup (or Sirius B) is currently believed to be about .98 solar masses with a radius equal to the Earth.

Something to think about.

Philip J. Calamatas
Montreal Canada

Supernova nightmares

Wayne from Orlando, FL — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:45:46 GMT

Arthur C. Clark and Stephen Baxter wrote an excellent trio of books about a race who fought against other species by causing their suns to become unstable. When they tossed a sun bomb at humans, long before our sentience, we responded with a sheild built at a lagrange point between the sun and Earth.

I love the idea of a big shield in space, one that can be focused to shade us from solar maximums, opened for solar minimums, one that could harvest solar energy and transmit it to off axis satellites around Earth.

The book series is called the Time Odyssey trilogy, and a very good read from two of the finest SF authors we have been blessed with.