03 Nov 13
2 edits
Originally posted by woodypusherDo you know how far away this star is? And why they think it may go nova? If it is within 5000 light years of Earth it could be disaster time. Supernova's are dangerous beasts, you don't want to be anywhere close to them. The fact it may not even be visible to the naked eye is a good sign, could be halfway across the galaxy, say 50,000 light years. Anyway, I won't be around one way or the other unless I live to the age of 122🙂 Hey, it could happen!
http://scienceblog.com/67577/could-a-milky-way-supernova-be-visible-from-earth-in-next-50-years/
04 Nov 13
Originally posted by sonhouseWherever it is, it probably already happened many thousands of years ago.
Do you know how far away this star is? And why they think it may go nova? If it is within 5000 light years of Earth it could be disaster time. Supernova's are dangerous beasts, you don't want to be anywhere close to them. The fact it may not even be visible to the naked eye is a good sign, could be halfway across the galaxy, say 50,000 light years. Anyway, I won't be around one way or the other unless I live to the age of 122🙂 Hey, it could happen!
06 Nov 13
Originally posted by sonhouseHowever, if we are relying on seeing the nova before we act, we have no hope.
More like a thick lead shield in orbit around the Earth or using the moon as a shield, moving it about so it will be between us and the nova. Piece of cake🙂
I guess if we analyze all nearby stars we might see signs before it goes supernova.
08 Nov 13
Originally posted by menace71I would think that having two suns for a week would do major damage to the Earth, although it may depend on what radiation other than visible light we receive.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1349383/Betelgeuse-second-sun-Earth-supernova-turns-night-day.html
Apparently we'd be ok if this one goes off but it's under 700 Light Years away
Manny
13 Nov 13
5 edits
[off topic]
I don't think it is worth starting a new thread about this so I mention it here instead:
I found this link about a space probe:
http://phys.org/news/2013-11-maven-solar-electron-microscopic.html
but what I find amusing about this link is where it says:
"one of its instruments will look to electrically charged particles called electrons for answers. "
What? really? there exist charged particles called "electrons"? -and we didn't all know that!? -so they had to say "charged particles called electrons" and not just simply "electrons" in the above to make sure we know what electrons are else we wouldn't have the foggiest idea what the HELL they are talking about!!! ?
[/off topic]
- Joined
- 31 May 06
- Moves
- 1795
13 Nov 13
Originally posted by sonhouseSupernova are indeed powerful...
Do you know how far away this star is? And why they think it may go nova? If it is within 5000 light years of Earth it could be disaster time. Supernova's are dangerous beasts, you don't want to be anywhere close to them. The fact it may not even be visible to the naked eye is a good sign, could be halfway across the galaxy, say 50,000 light years. Anyway, I won't be around one way or the other unless I live to the age of 122🙂 Hey, it could happen!
But you don't need to start stocking up on extra strength sunscreen unless its inside
of 100 ly away. [probably a lot less]
A gmma-ray burst (pointed right at us) would be dangerous at much greater ranges.
But a regular supernova doesn't threaten us unless it's right in our back yard.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2012/05/18/the-closest-supernova-candidate/
http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/08/13/are_the_stars_you_see_in_the_sky_already_dead.html