OT - Get Ready For Some Real Global Warming
gerry
The Earth could soon be wiped out by the explosion of a star more than
3,000 light years away, according to American scientists.
By Ben Leach, Daily Telegraph (UK)
Published: 9:39AM GMT 06 Jan 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/6940111/Earth-to-be-wiped-out-by-supernova-explosion.html
The star, called T Pyxidis, is set to self-destruct in an explosion
called a supernova with the force of 20 billion billion billion
megatons of TNT.
Although the star is thought to be around 3,260 light-years away – a
fairly short distance in galactic terms – the blast from the
thermonuclear explosion could strip away the Earth's ozone layer, the
scientists said.
Astronomers from Villanova University, Philadelphia, in the US, said
the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite has shown them that T
Pyxidis is really two stars, one called a white dwarf that is sucking
in gas and steadily growing. When it reaches a critical mass it will
blow itself to pieces.
It will become as bright as all the other stars in the galaxy put
together, they said. The Hubble space telescope has photographed the
star preparing for its big bang with a series of smaller blasts or
"burps", called novas.
These explosions came regularly about every 20 years from 1890 – but
stopped after 1967.
So the next blast is nearly 20 years overdue, said scientists Edward M
Sion, Patrick Godon and Timothy McClain at the American Astronomical
Society in Washington.
Robin Scagell, vice-president of the UK's Society for Popular
Astronomy, said: "The star may certainly became a supernova soon – but
soon could still be a long way off so don't have nightmares."
serebel
Bret Cahill
> Earth 'to be wiped out' by supernova explosion
>
> The Earth could soon be wiped out by the explosion of a star more than
> 3,000 light years away, according to American scientists.
> By Ben Leach, Daily Telegraph (UK)
>
> Published: 9:39AM GMT 06 Jan 2010
>
>
> The star, called T Pyxidis, is set to self-destruct in an explosion
> called a supernova with the force of 20 billion billion billion
> megatons of TNT.
>
> Although the star is thought to be around 3,260 light-years away – a
> fairly short distance in galactic terms – the blast from the
> thermonuclear explosion could strip away the Earth's ozone layer, the
> scientists said.
>
> Astronomers from Villanova University, Philadelphia, in the US, said
> the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite has shown them that T
> Pyxidis is really two stars, one called a white dwarf that is sucking
> in gas and steadily growing. When it reaches a critical mass it will
> blow itself to pieces.
>
> It will become as bright as all the other stars in the galaxy put
> together, they said. The Hubble space telescope has photographed the
> star preparing for its big bang with a series of smaller blasts or
> "burps", called novas.
>
> These explosions came regularly about every 20 years from 1890 – but
> stopped after 1967.
>
> So the next blast is nearly 20 years overdue, said scientists Edward M
> Sion, Patrick Godon and Timothy McClain at the American Astronomical
> Society in Washington.
>
> Robin Scagell, vice-president of the UK's Society for Popular
> Astronomy, said: "The star may certainly became a supernova soon – but
> soon could still be a long way off so don't have nightmares."
I'm hiding under my bed just to be safe.
Bret Cahill
Fred B. Brown
"gerry" <2ger...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:2745a72e-d071-486a...@35g2000yqa.googlegroups.com...
Earth 'to be wiped out' by supernova explosion
The Earth could soon be wiped out by the explosion of a star more than
3,000 light years away, according to American scientists.
By Ben Leach, Daily Telegraph (UK)
But this won't happen for over 3,000 years, why worry now?
Published: 9:39AM GMT 06 Jan 2010
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/6940111/Earth-to-be-wiped-out-by-supernova-explosion.html
The star, called T Pyxidis, is set to self-destruct in an explosion
called a supernova with the force of 20 billion billion billion
megatons of TNT.
Although the star is thought to be around 3,260 light-years away � a
fairly short distance in galactic terms � the blast from the
thermonuclear explosion could strip away the Earth's ozone layer, the
scientists said.
Astronomers from Villanova University, Philadelphia, in the US, said
the International Ultraviolet Explorer satellite has shown them that T
Pyxidis is really two stars, one called a white dwarf that is sucking
in gas and steadily growing. When it reaches a critical mass it will
blow itself to pieces.
It will become as bright as all the other stars in the galaxy put
together, they said. The Hubble space telescope has photographed the
star preparing for its big bang with a series of smaller blasts or
"burps", called novas.
These explosions came regularly about every 20 years from 1890 � but
stopped after 1967.
So the next blast is nearly 20 years overdue, said scientists Edward M
Sion, Patrick Godon and Timothy McClain at the American Astronomical
Society in Washington.
Robin Scagell, vice-president of the UK's Society for Popular
Astronomy, said: "The star may certainly became a supernova soon � but
Scotius
wrote:
A nova is just an explosion of compressed hydrogen gas on a
star. A supernova is what happens when the gravitational force of a
star becomes so great that it pulls all the hydrogen gas off of a
neighboring star, super-compresses it, and THEN explodes massively.
Supernovae are believed in some cases to be the cause of the
formation of black holes.
Now THAT is worrisome.