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Scientists Accurately Predict Supernova

Posted by michael on from the don't-look-now dept.

sckienle writes "Space.com has an article about a group of scientists who accurately predicted when the light of a supernova would reach Earth. (Ok, so they were only days ahead of the burst.) But this goes a fair way to confirming their model of supernovae."

17 comments

  1. This image text kicks ass by fredrikj · · Score: 4, Funny

    Do gamma ray bursts cause mass extinctions? Without question, the answer is probably yes or no, according to the experts.

    Heh

    1. Re:This image text kicks ass by Ashtray_Waterloo · · Score: 1

      Well, that definitely leaves out "Maybe"....

    2. Re:This image text kicks ass by Guignol · · Score: 1

      But according to others experts, the answer could very well be yes and no...

  2. Wow - pretty cool accuracy. by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

    2 billion light years away, and they were within a day! Wonder what the error rate on that is?

  3. Predicting thunder upon seeing lightning by wowbagger · · Score: 4, Informative

    The /. headline is misleading - the scientists did not predict the supernova. They predicted that the detection of gamma ray burst from the supernova would preceed the detection of the visible light from the supernova.

    That would be roughly equivelent to predicting a clap of thunder upon seeing a flash of lightning. Granted, if you didn't know lightning caused thunder this would be a great thing, but it is hardly the same as predicting the lightning in the first place.

    Don't get me wrong - this is still good science. But the /. headline was a bit misleading.

    --
    www.eFax.com are spammers
    1. Re:Predicting thunder upon seeing lightning by RandomInAction · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have to agree, I wondered how they could predict when light from an event they haven't seen, so don't know has occurred, will be detected. All they have done is join the dots, to form the line that the gamma burst precedes the supernova, and both are caused by the same event. So they are predicting a change in the dominant frequency of light rather than the arrival of it.

      However this is good evidence for their model, when it isn't known that lightning caused thunder to paraphrase. The line they've drawn dramatically points to the Cannonball theory as being accurate.

    2. Re:Predicting thunder upon seeing lightning by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But the /. headline was a bit misleading.

      Newsflash! Extra! Extra! Read all about it!

  4. The real question is... by jpsst34 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Will the be able to predict the next Champagne Supernova? Cuz, man, I don't think I want to be near when those blokes come around again.

    --
    How are you going to keep them down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus?
  5. interesting idea from reading the article by Sevn · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What about generating crypt keys based on a
    random sampling of the night sky with a powerful
    digital telescope?

    --
    For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
    1. Re:interesting idea from reading the article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...cuz the NSA sees the same night sky as you.

      That's why you want to look at the decay of atoms in the privacy of your home instead.

  6. Rama by grayrest · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wonder if they stole it from their female grad student and then married her to keep her quiet, allowing them to be among those selected for the second rondezvous with the extraterrestrial....

    or not.

  7. A million years? by mike_mgo · · Score: 3, Funny
    It used to be when scientists predicted the time and date of when a star would explode, they might be off by a million years.

    Umm, how did they check their predictions again?

    1. Re:A million years? by Noren · · Score: 1
      1. "That star will explode in exactly one million years."

      2. BOOM

      3. Profit! er, I mean Publish!

  8. GRB extinction by PhilHibbs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Reading the linked article "Cosmic Cannon: How an Exploding Star Could Fry Earth", I'm left thinking... So what? It's not like there's anything we could even dream about doing about it, except maybe get off the planet so all our eggs aren't in one basket, and that isn't going to happen (a viable colony that can surive forever without us) for a long, long time. So, why even worry about it? If it happens, we won't even know it, except maybe briefly.

    1. Re:GRB extinction by brian728s · · Score: 1

      How long would the burst last? If it was short enough, would a little less than half of the planet be shielded by the other half from the effects? Note" Build this for self http://www.theonion.com/onion3123/hawkingexo.html

  9. Some more on this from the BBC by RandomInAction · · Score: 3, Informative

    Making clear that: The prediction was the consequence of detecting a pulse of energy in the form of gamma rays from the same direction ten days earlier.

  10. later... by msouth · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...it was revealed that they got their information about the timing of the supernova from a man who is currently in custody of the SEC.

    --
    Liberty uber alles.