Mystery explosion detected in space

mzkhadir

Diamond Member
Mar 6, 2003
9,509
1
76
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060223_explosion.html

Astronomers have detected a new type of cosmic outburst that they can't yet explain. The event was very close to our galaxy, they said.

The eruption might portend an even brighter event to come, a supernova.

It was spotted by NASA's Swift telescope and is being monitored by other telescopes around the world as scientists wait to see what will happen.

Neil Gehrels, principal investigator for the Swift mission at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, called the event "totally new, totally unexpected."

If the eruption indeed precedes a supernova, then it would reach peak brightness in about a week, scientists said.

Experienced backyard astronomers can see the explosion with a telescope by using these coordinates: RA: 03:21:39.71 Dec: +16:52:02.6

The event, detected Feb. 18, looks something like a gamma-ray burst (GRB), scientists said. But it is much closer?about 440 million light-years away?than others. And it lasted about 33 minutes. Most GRBs are billions of light-years away and last less than a second or just a few seconds.

Other aspects of the newfound eruption were inexplicable, astronomers said. It was dimmer than most. Even so, the newly spotted point of light in the sky outshines the entire galaxy in which the event occurred.

"This could be a new kind of burst, or we might be seeing a gamma-ray burst from an entirely different angle," said Swift scientist John Nousek at Penn State University.

Astronomers don't fully understand gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). But they theorize that when one is pointed our way, it appears brighter than when the beams it produces shoot off in other directions.

The explosion has been catalogued as GRB 060218. It is the second-closest GRB ever detected. But it's not clear if it will ultimately be called one.

Italian researchers using the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope in Chile found signs in the event's optical afterglow that it may become a supernova. The scenario outlined by some researchers is that a very massive star has collapsed into a black hole and then exploded.

If the event is indeed a supernova in the making, scientists may get the first look at one unfolding from start to finish.

The eruption occurred in the constellation Aries.

 

J0hnny

Platinum Member
Jul 2, 2002
2,366
0
0
What if we're really immersed in an intergalactic battle and we're such a measley speck that our future overlords do not care at the moment whether we live or die?
 

pinion9

Banned
May 5, 2005
1,201
0
0
Originally posted by: rh71
Totally new ? It happened light years ago !

Ummm...light year is a measurement of distance. That would be like saying "That happened 100 feet ago!" Now, since it is 440 Million light years away it would be safe to say "That happened hundreds of millions of years ago!"

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Light year = measure of distance (the distance light travels in 1 year.)
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
Originally posted by: pinion9
Originally posted by: rh71
Totally new ? It happened light years ago !

Ummm...light year is a measurement of distance. That would be like saying "That happened 100 feet ago!" Now, since it is 440 Million light years away it would be safe to say "That happened hundreds of millions of years ago!"

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Light year = measure of distance (the distance light travels in 1 year.)
oops, see what happens when you're out of school for so long ?
 

StevenYoo

Diamond Member
Jul 4, 2001
8,628
0
0
Originally posted by: pinion9
Originally posted by: rh71
Totally new ? It happened light years ago !

Ummm...light year is a measurement of distance. That would be like saying "That happened 100 feet ago!" Now, since it is 440 Million light years away it would be safe to say "That happened hundreds of millions of years ago!"

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Light year = measure of distance (the distance light travels in 1 year.)

The millenium falcon made the kessel run in less than 12 parsecs!
 

So

Lifer
Jul 2, 2001
25,923
17
81
Originally posted by: LeadMagnet
They should round up and rename a lightyear to 10 petameters

That way we can measure it more easily on our metric clocks.
 

Aharami

Lifer
Aug 31, 2001
21,205
165
106
Originally posted by: pinion9
Originally posted by: rh71
Totally new ? It happened light years ago !

Ummm...light year is a measurement of distance. That would be like saying "That happened 100 feet ago!" Now, since it is 440 Million light years away it would be safe to say "That happened hundreds of millions of years ago!"

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Light year = measure of distance (the distance light travels in 1 year.)

yes a light-year is a measure of distance. but it still takes light 1 year to travel that distance and 1 year is a measure of time. lets say point A and point B are 100 light years apart. so light would take 100 years to travel from point A to point B. lets say someone shined a flashlight at point A at +0 years. that light would take 100 years to travel to point B. at +100 years someone peeking towards A would see a flashlight being turned on. So to that person at point B, that flashlight was just turned on, when in fact, the flashlight was really turned on 100 years ago
 

2Dead

Senior member
Feb 19, 2005
886
1
81
Originally posted by: Aharami
Originally posted by: pinion9
Originally posted by: rh71
Totally new ? It happened light years ago !

Ummm...light year is a measurement of distance. That would be like saying "That happened 100 feet ago!" Now, since it is 440 Million light years away it would be safe to say "That happened hundreds of millions of years ago!"

Sorry, just a pet peeve of mine. Light year = measure of distance (the distance light travels in 1 year.)

yes a light-year is a measure of distance. but it still takes light 1 year to travel that distance and 1 year is a measure of time. lets say point A and point B are 100 light years apart. so light would take 100 years to travel from point A to point B. lets say someone shined a flashlight at point A at +0 years. that light would take 100 years to travel to point B. at +100 years someone peeking towards A would see a flashlight being turned on. So to that person at point B, that flashlight was just turned on, when in fact, the flashlight was really turned on 100 years ago

thats a powerful flashlight... anyone have a Hot Deal posted?
 

astrosfan90

Golden Member
Mar 17, 2005
1,156
0
0
Originally posted by: Trippin315
I wanna name her Dottie after my wife. She's a vicious life-sucking b1tch from which there is no escape.

Priceless quote hidden in a mediocre movie. Good use though.
 
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