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38 Comments
- gcnaddict, on 10/12/2007, -1/+55 For the first time a star has been observed in real-time* as it goes supernova
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*Disclaimer: 440 million year timing delay - XAsmodeaNX, on 10/12/2007, -5/+26Vid?
- 121GW, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Man, you guys are the biggest haters I have ever seen.
This is the first time something like this has ever been observed and documented in such a complete manner and all you can say is "It's really a pitty this wasn't a galactic supernova" and "we only get two pictures."
Waaaaahhh. - freakofnature, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Obviously the scientists are having a party over this, while we only get the 2 pictures...
- hodyoaten, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15440 million light years away -- that's 5000 times the diameter of the Milky Way and about 100-200 times the distance to the Andromeda Galaxy. I don't think I've ever seen anything further than 110 million light years away in my 10-inch telescope... at that range a galaxy of billions of stars just looks like a faint smudge. So definitely quite the explosion.
- gcnaddict, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Play Spore. Everything becomes easy to understand once you play Spore :P
Oh wait... - AoiTakuma, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Reading this I tried to understand how far 440 Million Light years is, and the thought gave me a weird feeling. I think even comprehending how far 1 light year is is something I will never be able to understand.
- gcnaddict, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If the light reaching us is 440 million years old, then you can assume that at normal time passage, the event happened 440 million years ago. However, then you start seeing wierd problems which come as a result of uncertainty, which end up being too elaborate for a simple digg comment.
- aviazn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5No, neutrinos don't move faster than light, but in a supernova, they are emitted from the core collapse and escape through the outer layers of the star much faster than the shock wave of material bouncing off of the degenerate core does. The extra light that we see from the supernovae is really just due to the expansion of the visible surface area of the expanding material, which doesn't occur until the shock wave works its way through to the surface of the star, which can take hours or even days.
- Lutz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Nonsense... in Star Trek I hear sound in space all the time
- sdevoid, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I don't have my astrophysics notes on hand, but here's how Chris Anderson summarizes it in his book, The Long Tail:
"Astrophysicists had long theorized that when a star explodes, most of its energy is released as neutrinos--low-mass, subatomic particles that fly through planets like bullets through tissue paper. Part of the theory is that in the early phase of this type of explosion, the only observable evidence is a shower of such particles; it then takes another few hours for the inferno to emerge as visible light."
-- pg. 59 - dbug, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"No BOOM because there is no sound in space."
Wow! Does that mean that in space nobody can hear me cry?! - DrDabbles, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@mage1129
Um, do you understand the concept of distance and speed? r*t=d, man. So, if a supernova happened, say, 440 Million years ago at a distance of 440 Million light years away, we would see it now. Get it?
If one fired off on the exact opposite side of our galaxy, then we would still have quite some time before any effects reached us. If our sun went nova right now (not possible, but play along) we would be completely unaware of it for 8 minutes. Because light travels at a constant speed (c). So, we can say distance / speed of light = time to get here. This is really 7th grade math. Probably even less. - Tabris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Too bad Pluto isn't a planet. We don't talk about that child anymore.
- gcnaddict, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Mod me down for this comment, but I seriously suggest people mod hodyoaten's comment up. It's probably the only comment which has and will ever be posted here which puts things into perspective.
Anyway, while the supernova might be brighter than a few galaxies which are closer, it certainly isn't as big as one, though the explosion itself could probably easily obliterate a ten-dozen-lightyear radius around it at the least. At the most... how the hell would I know. I don't delve into these cosmic mysteries. - dbug, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4No sound either. Where is the BOOOOOM?!
- sceebacny, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3No BOOM because there is no sound in space.
- GFKSpot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Also hard to imagine that if some other intelligent life is watching, then all they would see is some little planet forming.
- futaris, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3RTFA. The "interesting/unknown" stuff happens before the star goes bright (supernova) in the optical wavelengths.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The Elite hide pluto from the future for it proficy
We are now approaching the half-way point in the Maya “Age of Revealing” which began in 1999. December 21 1999 began the final 13 year countdown to the zero-year of 2012. The half-way point is 2007, so we can expect some major changes on all levels of our being during and after that time. Pluto, the planet-archetype of radical change, cleansing and deconstruction will conjunct with Galactic Center in November of this year. It is very strange that they do all this on the eve that pluto come into lunar cycle
Pluto (re)creates (it also governs the reproductive system), it loves to destroy just as much. This Planet rules destruction, death, obsession, kidnapping, coercion, viruses and waste. That's certainly not pretty. Pluto also governs crime and the underworld, along with many forms of subversive activity (terrorism, dictatorships). This Planet is about all that is secret and undercover, that which is hidden from view. Is this the story of good versus evil? Yes.
The elite of the world and the new world order know this is the coming of the new age of the bible and want to hide it from the future to discredit myan prophecy.
more info here
http://mtsar.blogspot.com/2006/02/2012.html
http://www.infowars.com/
http://theresistancemanifesto.com/index.php - kurtu5, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I think he means that we had a neutrino observation in realtime. Though I didn't know we had such reliable neutrino counters. The distinction is that we now have observed its photons at several frequencies with various telescopes.
1987A is the reason that some optical telescopes had network overrides to slew them with out human intervention just to catch this rare event. So I guesss the robots saw it first. Go robots!
And hours or days to bounce off of the degenerate core? Wow, I would have thought microseconds. I know that it can take a photon millions of years to work its way out of the center of a normal star, but shock waves should move at speed of sound limits. Considering that the bulk modulous of a degenerate core is perfectly elastic and the material falling in on it is also damn near incompressible, I would think the speed of sound is enormous. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2they probably dont have more thn a couple pictures.. and no vids.. these arent your backyard scope. They will often take in the light from the same section of sky for days, to capture enough light to get the high res picts we like.
so yeah maybe "real time" is stertching it a bit..but easier to say than captured several images of a super nova moments after the light from the explosion reached the earth. - gill1109, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1it seems amazing especially the bit about the shock wave from the expanding gas bubble at 2M deg ... but just wondering, "440 million years ago", the time difference depends on the frame of reference so you can't say that - but what can you say then?
- EmileVictor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Apart from the fact that we'd all be dead, a supernova within this galaxy would be a very pretty (and scary) sight. If a supernova in another galaxy was brighter than the galaxy itself, imagine how big and bright one would be if it was closer.
Maybe I should explain my first statement... A supernova explosion would probably hit you the exact moment you saw it explode, so you wouldn't have much time to watch the fireworks. It's not like watching one from afar. - sdevoid, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Um..first supernova to be viewed in real time? What do they mean by that? On February 23, 1987, scientists detected a burst of neutrinos. About three hours later (as predicted by astrophysical models) the first protons of light reached Earth and could be seen by the naked eye. It's all here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_1987A
I would recommend reporting this as innaccurate, if only for the title. - johndi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Real time? It happened 440 million years ago. Just kidding, it's cool that we finally caught one "from the very beginning." I would like to see the vid when they release it, but that could be a while.
- mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@ EmileVictor
You do realize how huge our galaxy is right? I am assuming you meant Solar System. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1And what exactly is a "galactic supernova"? Anyone care to explain?
- pauljaroszewski, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3supernovas are freaking rad...so much cool stuff is made as a result...if memory serves correctly, all of the metals on the periodic table above iron are made only by the insane heat and release of energy created by a supernova.
- gcnaddict, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1wait a sec, are you saying neutrinos move faster than light? Since when?
And no, this is the first time that a star has been observed as it went into supernova. In the case of 1987A, we only looked at it after the neutrino burst. - Harbinger67, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1Sort of off topic...
Did anyone see the Google ad there that read "Nasa Ringtone - Send this ringtone to your phone right now!". Nasa ringtone? I lol'd. - DigDugDigger, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3After seeing the title, I thought SuprNova had created some sort of Digg Spy view.
- celotil, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2It's simple to comprehend, just difficult to really _know_ - as in feel it with every fibre of your being.
Some time long ago, before there was olde, before we were picking through deserts, and waaaaay before we were cavemen, this star went KABLAMMO!
To us now, it's a very pretty thing in the sky. To the poor sods in a galaxy far, far away, it was probably the end of their civilisation.
You know what the silly thing is? We won't experience this before we kill ourselves off in a blaze of stupidity.
I know, you probably understand this, but I too can't feel the full force of what this means, and I don't want to either - I suspect I'd shoot myself or end up crying under the covers of my bed if I did. - Wezlanator, on 10/12/2007, -12/+2I watch Supernova in real time twice a week.
Ryan got kicked off this week. :( - SuperCujo, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2I thought it was funny...
BTW I reckon Navarro is gay - lava, on 10/12/2007, -13/+1oh come on that's a funny joke.
- samk, on 10/12/2007, -20/+7I've been watching Supernova for the past two months. Some of the singers are pretty good, but Supernova's tracks are awful.
- physdave, on 10/12/2007, -19/+1It's really a pity this wasn't a galactic supernova. So many questions would be answered. This is great, but only tantalizes us.
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