# NASA set to announce discovery... any guesses as to what it is? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575 "2008-05-08T16:37:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/41 "2008-05-08T19:50:41Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] What **Anne Neville** said. See [the Crab Nebula](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crab_nebula). The supernova that created it was observed by Chinese astronomers in 1054 A.D. [/QUOTE] Wasn’t 1054 in the Chinese calender called the year of the Toast? Tris ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/42 "2008-05-08T20:08:42Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Wasn’t 1054 in the Chinese calender called the year of the Toast? Tris [/QUOTE] My friend is like a black hole at a Chinese buffet. He eats all the crab nebula legs they can put out. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/43 "2008-05-08T20:09:31Z")
A second WOW! signal. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/44 "2008-05-08T20:12:06Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] A second WOW! signal. [/QUOTE] I heard the aliens like playing Troll Shamans. “Frost Shock!” ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/45 "2008-05-08T20:16:12Z")
The furthest observable object has begun to reverse direction? ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/46 "2008-05-08T20:54:34Z")
I was hoping that intelligent life had been detected on the third planet in our solar system, but after the week I have been having, I know there is no chance of that. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/47 "2008-05-08T21:04:38Z")
Planet X has been found. In a bar on the west side of Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/48 "2008-05-08T21:19:26Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] Could it be something having to do with dark matter? [/QUOTE] That’s my thought too. The missing mass question goes back over 50 years, and we already have local examples of X-ray Binaries, Pulsars, Supernovae, X-ray Transients, Black holes (both stellar and big). Of course, no one was looking for most of those 50 years ago anyway, so they can’t be what NASA’s going to announce. Dark matter seems a likely candidate. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/49 "2008-05-08T21:40:07Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Wasn’t 1054 in the Chinese calender called the year of the Toast? Tris [/QUOTE] It was the Year of the Golden Dragon. We didnt realise that Golden meant “glowing in the dark”… ---
**Author:** ![Angua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8baadc/32.png) [@Angua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angua)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/50 "2008-05-08T22:21:17Z")
My money’s on it being something to do with the central black hole. Browsing through the _Chandra_ short term observing schedules and looking through the archive, there seems to be at least one oddly named observation in the past week with indications that the target is a black hole. Though it could be a low mass star or something like that. I doubt its going to be a habitable planet – as far as I’m aware (and as an X-ray astronomer who knows very little about extra-solar planets), habitable planets don’t have bright X-ray albedos. Other than that, I’ve got nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/51 "2008-05-08T22:24:54Z")
How long have we been looking for Brown Dwarves? Tris ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/52 "2008-05-08T22:29:15Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] How long have we been looking for Brown Dwarves? Tris [/QUOTE] They discovered [those](http://www.sitcomsonline.com/webstershowinfo.html) in [the 80s](http://valdefierro.com/gcole22.jpg)… ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/53 "2008-05-08T23:31:58Z")
A black hole in the galactic center? They’ve been looking for that for a while. It’d fit the X-Ray angle as well. ETA: I’m stumped what they’ve been looking for for 50 years _in our galaxy_. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/54 "2008-05-08T23:35:50Z")
[QUOTE=squeegee] A black hole in the galactic center? They’ve been looking for that for a while. It’d fit the X-Ray angle as well. [/QUOTE] They’re pretty sure they’ve found it already. The extremely high-velocity, short-period orbits of the centralmost stars around a common point with no visible object centered on it pretty well clinches it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/55 "2008-05-08T23:36:08Z")
A stable source of funding? ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/56 "2008-05-08T23:42:37Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] How long have we been looking for Brown Dwarves? Tris [/QUOTE] I dunno, ever since we looked at Jupiter? **jayjay** , care for a handbasket? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/57 "2008-05-08T23:59:38Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] **jayjay** , care for a handbasket? [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s all right. I’ve already got one. Built sturdy and everything. Should take even a bad landing… ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/58 "2008-05-09T01:56:27Z")
For the missing sock theorist , here is the military sock weapon story in my favorite series Galactic Customs. [Paint Your Weasel](http://www.unitedheroes.net/gc/020511/) I’m guessing they will talk about the smallest black hole ever found. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/59 "2008-05-09T02:02:53Z")
It’s the 50-years part that has me stumped. Most of the things mentioned weren’t even known about 50 years ago. All I can think of is Sputnik. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2008, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575/60 "2008-05-09T03:08:27Z")
[QUOTE=Anne Neville] Could it be something having to do with dark matter? [/QUOTE] [I’ll betcha that’s it.](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080506194033.htm) (PS- [Sciencedaily.com](http://Sciencedaily.com) is a neat place to peruse, for those interested in all sorts of sciencey stuff.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nasa-set-to-announce-discovery-any-guesses-as-to-what-it-is/448575.md?page=4)