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Mystery of an Ancient Super Nova Solved

Posted by Soulskill on from the it-was-his-sled dept.

Bob the Super Hamste writes "The BBC is reporting that the mystery of a supernova seen almost 2000 years ago has been solved. The supernova RCW 86 was observed in 185AD by Chinese astronomers and was visible for eight months. Recently scientists have wondered how the supernova grew so big. By combining data from the Chandra X-ray telescope and the XMM-Newton Observatory with recent images from NASA's Spitzer and Wide-field Infrared Survey telescopes, scientists have figured out that the supernova expanded into a relatively empty bubble of space. These empty bubbles of space are typically associated with a core collapse supernova, but the core remnant is high in iron, which instead is associated with a type 1A supernova. The findings are published in The Astrophysical Journal."

1 of 96 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Use CE, Avoid AD to designate the years. by dmgxmichael · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    CE stands for Common Era, which is the preferred notation now a days. And BCE for the years before that.

    Why don't you anti-theists go find your own event to count the years from? Seriously, bitching about AD and wanting it changed only shows how pathetic and petty the lot of you are. I'd suggest dating from the launch of Sputnik, which makes this the year 44. Or you could just use Unix time.

    I imagine the conversations with the 5 year olds are hilarious though -- "Why is 2011?" "It's just common convention." "Why?" "Because that's how we've always done it." "Why" "Because a bunch of morons who believe in God say he came to earth that many years ago." "Well, if it isn't true, why still use it?"...

    And so on. My point (as a Christian) is this. The numbering doesn't belong to you. If you don't like it make up your own like the Jews, Arabs, Japanese and half a dozen other nations and cultures have. Stay the Hell off our count.

    And while you punks are at it, Go find your own calendar. The current one belongs to us for it was made by the Pope.

    And one final note - CE stands for "Christian Era" and is the English localization for AD. So at the least you could try a different set of letters. AD should actually work fine - Antitheist Delusion.