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Supernova Discovered
hey! writes: "A supernova was found last Wednesday in the M74 galaxy (announcment can be found here :http://www.aavso.org/newsflash/nf904.shtml. It is not visible to the naked eye, but was discovered with at 10 inch telescope and is getting brighter -- it may be visible in amateur instruments as small as 4", according to Lew Gramer of the IAAC list. More information is available at seds.org including a very nice before and after picture."
Try thousands, if not millions of years ago.
Our nearest celestial neighbour is Alpha Centauri which is 4.5 light years away. This means if it went supernova, we wouldn't know about it for 4.5 years.
Consultancy: If you're not part of the solution, there's money to be made in prolonging the problem
right about nowwwwaaaaarrrrggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
Additional linkage from APOD
M74 is 30 million light years away so this supernova went off 30 million years ago. This is about 15 times farther away than the Andromeda galaxy, which is the closest "true" galaxy to the Milky Way.
No criticism intended, but if you are wondering if something visible in a distant galaxy occurred days, weeks or months ago, you need to get a fast update on just how BIG the universe is. I recommend a quick trip to the Powers of Ten website....
This promises to be one of the brightest supernova in a long time. I hope they point the hubble torwards it.
There is an excellent site that will track the progress of this supernova here
Space.com has an article about hypernova here. More detail about hypernova mechanics are here and here
If they can catch a Gamma-Ray Burst with this object, then this will be a pretty big deal.
Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
> I hope they point the hubble torwards it.
Don't do it! This it the latest goatse trick - probably a black hole or something.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
You owe your life to supernovae, since that's the only way (known) to enrich the interstellar medium with heavy elements, like carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, etc. It's hard to imagine anything affecting your life more than that which made you possible.
Well, if it continues to get brighter, you might be able to get out and see it with a pair of binoculars, or maybe even your bare eyes. Would it make a difference in your life?
It depends on you.
Some years ago, I got out on a cold winter morning with my girlfriend (no my wife) to see Haley's comet. It wasn't nearly as spectactular as Hyatuke, which in turn was no great shakes unless you were accustomed to looking into the skies. Did it change my life?
Well, sort of.
It didn't get me a better job, so I could buy a larger TV and Tivo. But I did get to see something my ancestors had seen, century after century, and knowing as they did not know that it connects me with them. I did see the dirty ball of ice that caused apocalyptic hysteria every 75 years in the dark ages, that raised and lowered the curtain on Mark Twain's life. To understand this thing obeys the universal laws of gravitation, Kepler's law, that in a few decades it will return to the mysterious and unexplored outer regions of the solar system, reach its apogee, and slowly turn and begin to pick up speed to come rocketing through the inner solar system. To wonder if I will be there to see its return with my children, grandchildren and great grand children (there's a small, small chance I will be alive if I live to be 99 and keep my eyesight).
People spend a huge amount of their lives to pay for the acquisition of goods that they think make a difference in their lives. Perhaps your passion is fast cars, high fidelity audio equipment, cameras or video equipment. Nobody questions these passions. My passion to see things for myself. To see the gossamer web of the M44 beehive; the struggle of an adult insect emerging from its chrsalis; the great equatorial belts of Saturn under the shadow of the rings; the chocolate brown dusty layer containing the Iridium anamoly of the K-T boundary in the Montana badlands; the shimmering of bioluminescent plankton in the summer seas; flocks of birds swooping and surfing each others wake on invisble air currents.
Does it make a difference in my life? Yes.
Would it make a difference in your life?
It depends on you.
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