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Chandra Sees Black Hole Rip Star Apart
beeplet writes "Nasa just sent out this press release titled about an exciting Chandra observation. It states: "Thanks to two orbiting X-ray observatories, astronomers have the first strong evidence of a supermassive black hole ripping apart a star and consuming a portion of it.
The event, captured by NASA's Chandra and ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray Observatories, had long been predicted by theory, but never confirmed."
There is more information on the Chandra home page, including the x-ray and optical observations that were involved in the discovery." Note that the star-ripping pictured on the front page is labeled an illustration, rather than an recorded image.
Dean quit! Oooo-rah!
GNAA trolls won't even try to relate to the topic :P
goatse got taken down like over a month ago, idiot
link to goat.cx instead
CONGRATULATIONS SPACE PEOPLE
Glad that thing isn't anywhere near us, I still have things to do before close of business today! Ooph! Time to go! Location Based WiFi
Zhrodague.net - I do projects and stuff too.
SOMEONE SHOULD BUY YOU A TIE
Funny. I had the strongest mental image of "The Spider & The Fly" while reading this story...
"Will you walk into my parlor?" said the spider to the fly;
"'Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you may spy.
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to show when you are there."
"Oh no, no," said the little star; "to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."
"I'm sure you must be weary, dear, with soaring up so high.
Well you rest upon my little bed?" said the spider to the fly.
"There are pretty curtains drawn around; the sheets are fine and thin,
And if you like to rest a while, I'll snugly tuck you in!"
"Oh no, no," said the little fly, "for I've often heard it said,
They never, never wake again who sleep upon your bed!"
Said the cunning spider to the fly: "Dear friend, what can I do
To prove the warm affection I've always felt for you?
I have within my pantry good store of all that's nice;
I'm sure you're very welcome - will you please to take a slice?
"Oh no, no," said the little fly; "kind sir, that cannot be:
I've heard what's in your pantry, and I do not wish to see!"
"Sweet creature!" said the spider, "you're witty and you're wise;
How handsome are your gauzy wings; how brilliant are your eyes!
I have a little looking-glass upon my parlor shelf;
If you'd step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself."
"I thank you, gentle sir," she said, "for what you're pleased to say,
And, bidding you good morning now, I'll call another day."
The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew the silly fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web in a little corner sly,
And set his table ready to dine upon the fly;
Then came out to his door again and merrily did sing:
"Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple; there's a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!"
Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer grew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes and green and purple hue,
Thinking only of her crested head. Poor, foolish thing! at last
Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast;
He dragged her up his winding stair, into the dismal den -
Within his little parlor - but she ne'er came out again!
And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly flattering words I pray you ne'er give heed;
Unto an evil counselor close heart and ear and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale of the spider and the fly.
---anactofgod---
---anactofgod---
"Equal opportunity swindling - *that* is the true test of a sustainable democracy."
Unfair moderation I think. Initially, there was just the section blurb about Justin Timberlake and then the story write-up. There were no comments by Timothy.
Timothy then edited the story text and added the mention that it's an illustration, probably after reading the parent post and actually click through to the story to read it.
The parent shouldn't really be -1, Redundant. It should be at least 3 or 4, Informative because he helped improve the story.
The genius of this is that it was modded down Redundant. :D
"To pass through the jungle; silence, courtesy, ferocity, as the occasion demands." -- Kamau, "Proper Passage"
You realize that for something to be "100 times worse" than something else, you have to define a standard for how bad something is. Here's an example.
Item A costs $.99
Item B costs $.94
Item B's manufacturers decided to use $1.00 as the arbitrary standard for expensiveness.
Item B is 5 times less expensive than Item A
Now, you can say that the older telescopes had 1/100th the resolution or that the new ones are 100 times better, but something being 100 times worse than something else makes NO sense at all unless you have a reference to measure from. You can only use 0 as that reference if you're measuring AWAY from it.
I would like to congratulate the space people who made this amazing discover with a tie!
Why bother.
Timothy's message has been there from the beginning.
Actually, goatse is more pinkish than black...
...also note that "an illustration" is English, whereas "an recorded image" is an obvious, below fifth grade mistake.
Of course, an editor would notice, and correct, this.
AN EDITOR.
I happen to know the black hole personally, and he told me with a certain degree of sympathy that the star in question told the black hole, "I sure could go for a bite about now." Being the kind individual the black-hole is, he took the matter into his own hands, or... mouth.
Learn something new.
But there certainly is something inherently unsafe about oppression (lack of liberty): it is achieved by the initiation of force.