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The Arthur C. Clarke Gamma Ray Burst
Larry Sessions, a columnist for Earth & Sky, has suggested in his blog that the gamma-ray event whose radiation reached us a few hours before Arthur C. Clarke died, and which occurred 7.5 billion years ago, be named the Clarke Event. The outburst, which produced enough visible light to render it a naked-eye object across half the universe, is officially designated GRB 080319B. What more fitting tribute to Clarke than to associate his name with the greatest bang since the big one? Sessions suggests writing to any astronomers, heads of physics departments, or planetarium operators you know and talking up the proposal.
Just don't name any missions to Europa after him! That would probably upset him.
I got a catholic block.
If they find a large cluster of stars in the near future, I'll recommend "The Dick Cheney Clusterfuck."
How does that follow? Astronomical bodies get named after famous people or scientists frequently. No one is saying Clarke caused it (after all, it did happen over seven billion years ago), but it's a way of recognizing one of the most influential science/sci-fi writers who has ever lived.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
So long, Mr. Clarke, and thanks for all the fiction...
eleven plus two / twelve plus one
"Look," whispered a Slashdotter, and Jollyreaper lifted his eyes to heaven. (There is always a last time for everything.)
Overhead, in glorious blazes of gamma radiation, the stars were going out.
What about Light-Ballmerchairs?
What more fitting tribute to Clarke than to associate his name with the greatest bang since the big one?
But Zaphod Beeblebrox already has a name. :)
Ever since I was a kid I wondered who this Haley was that first threw a comet out of our atmosphere.
Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
On a serious note, I do hope we can name it after Clarke, he has inspired many (including myself). And this seems as fitting a tribute as any.
Prediction: The real iPhone killer is going to be sex robots from Japan. Think about it.
Oh no! I'm stupid!
It was Ms. Gallumbits describing Zaphod Beeblebrox
How embarrassing!
eleven plus two / twelve plus one
It's simple! Get a hand-held radar gun, find Steve Ballmer in a public place and ensure there's an easily-throwable chair nearby. Then point to someone and tell Steve that the guy said the iPod was inferior to the Zune. Viola! All that suffers is your conscience.
We're just seeing this news on Slashdot now? This hit digg 7.49 Billion years ago.
Repeating the libelous (and since retracted) fiction of British tabloids to insult a dead man is pretty low.
Do you also believe in Bat Boy?
What, having the single most valuable orbit type named after him isn't enough? The orbit has the further advantage of actually being his idea.
When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a skull.
With all due respect, should we not remember him by naming something after him that itself will be remembered? I mean really, this Gamma Ray Burst is not going to be a topic for many people in even a couple weeks, let alone several years from now. We remember Kennedy via the Kennedy Space Center, Hawking gets Hawking Radiation, Einstein/Galileo has some satellites and the examples are really endless here. Why not name something after him which will carry his namesake more actively throughout the future. Of course this is not the only thing that will bear his name, but out of all the possibilities people want to spend their effort on this one? I'd like to see that enthusiasm directed towards something better than getting a GRB event named after him. Cool? Maybe. Lasting? No.
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Can you back up the pedophile claim? Thought not. As far as I can tell not one shred of evidence for the claim has ever been found. He was still knighted, after a two year delay caused by these claims. That shows pretty clearly that the claims were investigated and found to be false.
And as you tread the halls of sanity, You feel so glad to be, Unable to go beyond. I have a message, From another time..
The facts have come out. Years ago. He never did anything. No one ever came forward. No evidence was ever found. This is old news.
And as you tread the halls of sanity, You feel so glad to be, Unable to go beyond. I have a message, From another time..
An explosive event in space named after Clarke? Oh, great....
...the gamma-ray event whose radiation reached us a few hours before Arthur C. Clarke died... I suspect it was Carl Sagan who fired that gamma-ray, knowing all to well Mr. Clarke was not wearing his tinfoil hat.Sierra Tango Foxtrot Uniform
How about making sure Clarke Orbit becomes the common name for the geostationary orbit?
Gamma-ray bursts are given catalogue names based on the date they were discovered. There is no mechanism for naming bursts beyond that. Occasionally a burst is given an informal name. For example, one burst is sometimes called the Superbowl burst because it went off during the Superbowl (which is the name of an annual championship US football game). However, there is nothing official about these names, and the IAU does not recognize them. I like the idea of informally naming GRB 080319B after Sir Arthur C. Clarke. In fact, it is already being referred to that way by some people in the gamma-ray burst community. We will see if it catches on.
Please proceed to the counter to have your geek card revoked for the combined failure in incorrectly citing a classic AND incorrectly using a hyperlink and inadvertently pointing out your own first failure.
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.
There were so many stars you could have used. What was the need to give those people to the fire, so the symbol of their passing might shine above Sri Lanka?
Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
Seriously, what if there's a inhabited planet around one of those stars and they find out what we think of them some day? We might be the ones who end up getting the shock-and-awe treatment, with a Mother Of All Nova Bombs.
The only collection of objects that might deserve the name Cheney might be a scattering of parasite-ridden coyote droppings. Although given that scavenger dung may have better poll ratings . . .
Overhead, in glorious blazes of gamma radiation, the stars were going out. "No, you dolt," said Jollyreaper. "It is a passing cloud." (The simplest explanation is usually the best.)
"Ah, so it is," replied the Anonymous Coward, and crawled back into his cave.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
You killed Arthur! You bastards!
...was the biggest bang since the big one so this burst should be named after her.
OTH if a seven billion year old gamma ray burst could be used to debunk Christian mythology I think then maybe there is a case for naming it after Clarke.
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Make sure you use a telescope with a clock drive and a filter. Declination: Undisclosed Right Ascension: Undisclosed