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.

Comments

If they find a new cluster of stars

[Anonymous Coward]

If they find a large cluster of stars in the near future, I'll recommend "The Dick Cheney Clusterfuck."

Minor correction...

[diesel66]

What more fitting tribute to Clarke than to associate his name with the greatest bang since the big one? With all respect due Mr. Clarke and his burst, I would like to point out that Eccentrica Gallumbits is already well know as "the best bang since the big one".

So long, Mr. Clarke, and thanks for all the fiction...

Re:no, don't care for it

[Anonymous Coward]

The Clarke Event makes it sound like he was involved in it some way. Show that his death triggered the burst and I will be most impressed.

"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.

Re:Overdoing it

[Jonathunder]

It wasn't his idea, though he did popularize it in a 1945 story. Herman Potocnik published a paper on geosynchronous satellites for communication in 1928.