Articles in Space Nasties
Mega-Mega Black Holes Discovered
I’m not a physicist, and I am certainly not inclined to work out the harm a supernova can do to us. But I do know that when scientists say X light years away is safe, …
Space News Items in Brief
Gamma Rays have been detected from a nova (not to be confused with a supernova) for the first time, something that has surprised scientists. I’m guessing that unlike supernovae, we are unable to tell if …
Our Galactic Centre: “enormous energetic event”
Every time a scientist tells us we have nothing to fear, another will admit that they often don’t know much at all. Some 2012 theorists have suggested our galactic centre might be the cause of …
GRB Conference Invites Media
This press release caught the eye of a 2012 Forum member:
Press activities have now been planned for “Gamma Ray Bursts 2010 Conference,” a meeting of over 200 astronomers, which will take place on November 1-4 …
WR 104 – Potential Space Nasty
I really like “bad astronomy” articles, but even more so when they admit they are scared. In this instance it is a binary star known as Wr 104. At a distance of 5000-8000 light years …
Black Hole Jet Blasts Nearby Galaxy
A powerful jet from a super massive black hole is blasting a nearby galaxy, according to new findings from NASA observatories. This never-before witnessed galactic violence may have a profound effect on planets in the …
Arthur C Clarke: Beware of Gamma Ray Bursts
In June 2000, shortly after being knighted, Arthur C Clarke said:
“Some of the greatest threats to mankind’s future, are global warming, pollution, gamma ray bursts and the threat of an asteroid hitting the earth.
…Gamma ray …
Great Example of a Gamma Ray Burst’s power
7.5 billion years ago, 7.5 billion light years from us, a star exploded.
The light from this gamma ray burst took until last month to be reach Earth. For a couple of hours this explosion was …
Wolf-Rayet star aimed right at us!
The spinning wheel is generated by two massive stars, 8000 light years away, circling each other every eight months. Gigantic clouds of gas streaming off the stars are being stretched by the stellar dance into …
“Death Star” Galaxy has Violent Energy Jet!
The supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy is blasting a smaller neighbor with a violent energy jet—earning it the moniker the “Death Star” galaxy—scientists announced today.
The jet has probably fried …
Gamma Ray Burst from Nowhere!
The current theory holds that that gamma ray bursts like GRB 070125 are given off by super-jumbo-sized stars that run out of fuel and violently collapse to form black holes, explains Neil Gehrels, principal investigator …
Galaxy fires powerful particle beam
This animation begins with a close-up of the supermassive black hole in the centre of the galaxy 3C321. Hot gas falls towards the black hole; some is swallowed but much is ejected in a particle …
Beware – gamma-ray bursts could fry us!
In the new research, Douglas Galante and Jorge Ernesto Horvath of the University of São Paolo, Brazil, argued that gamma-ray bursts could shine their lethal effects across a whole galaxy, and damage life over greater …
