Slashdot Mirror
Space Telescope Catches Monster Flare
gollum123 writes, "NASA's Swift satellite has seen a giant flare explode from a nearby star. Our sun also flares when twisted magnetic field lines in the solar atmosphere suddenly snap — but this was on a far larger scale, perhaps 100 million times as strong. The energy released by the explosion on II Pegasi was equivalent to about 50 quintillion atomic bombs. If the Sun were ever to produce such an outburst, it would almost certainly cause a mass extinction on Earth. II Pegasi is a binary system 135 light-years from Earth in the constellation Pegasus. Its two stars are close, only a few stellar radii apart; as a result, tidal forces cause both stars to spin quickly, rotating in lockstep once in seven days compared to the Sun's 28-day rotation period. Fast rotation is thought to be conducive to strong stellar flares."
It's Election Day, so I get into work early, before lunch even. The phone rings. Shit!
I turn the page on the excuse sheet. "COSMIC SOLAR FLARES" stares out at me. I'd better read up on that. Two minutes later
I'm ready to answer the phone.
"Hello?" I say.
The Voting machines are messed up, We can't vote!!!
"Ah, yes. Well, there's been some cosmic solar activity this morning, it always disrupts electronics..." I say, sweet as a sugar pie.
"Huh? But I my friends could vote in Itasca County"
"Yes, that's entirely possible, cosmic solar activity is very unpredictable in it's effects. Why just a few years ago, we had some votes just dissappear from a guys total during the middle of a recount!"
It could be worse, it could be Monday.
I'mn scratching that system off of my list of possible destinations if we manage to run our current ecosystem into the ground and need to send refugees off to a replacement.
Sometimes boldness is in fashion. Sometimes only the brave will be bold.
What if we all ran inside real quick?
Dark Reflection
The energy released by the explosion on II Pegasi was equivalent to about 50 quintillion atomic bombs. If the Sun were ever to produce such an outburst, it would almost certainly cause a mass extinction on Earth.
My fellow Americans, our only option is clear: We need to preemptively invade the sun.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
Before Explosion:
O o
After Explosion:
O o===
Give a man a fish and you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish, and he'll say "WHERE'S MY FISH, YOU IDIOT?"
This is a 135 year old story!
Here is the NASA link to this item:n ster_flare.html
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/mo
I really wish slashdot would just link the real news item instead of the crappy ones it always seems to find. There wasn't even an image on the one they linked.
Now about those TPS reports...
It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
Which bombs? North Korean bombs or the Russian Ivan bombs? The Ivan test was about 10,000 times more powerful than the North Korean bomb.
I find blanket statements like "More powerful than x nuclear bombs," to be infuriatingly alarmist. Give me a raw tonnage number any day. THAT interests me much more.
(Of course, I suppose the extra five zero's one might potentially add here aren't that significant, as it is probably still enough power either way to blow up the Earth.)
I can just picture you in a D&D game.
DM: "you have been killed by the explosion of one billion nuclear bombs."
You: "Russian or Korean?"
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.