# Oooooh. Supernova. Oh, sh\*t! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 26, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134 "2006-02-26T01:56:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/1 "2006-02-26T01:56:37Z")
Cool, I thought, scientists may get a good luck at a [supernova.](http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/health/bal-te.bang25feb25,0,53990.story?coll=bal-health-headlines) > [@Boston Globe](#): > > Astronomers around the world are pointing their telescopes toward the expected appearance of a new supernova - the explosion of a massive and very distant star. > > The excitement follows the detection Feb.17 of an unprecedented blast of high-energy radiation, called a gamma ray burst, from a galaxy 440 million light-years from Earth. Then I read this paragraph: > [@Boston Globe](#): > > Had the explosion gone off in our own Milky Way galaxy, Marshall said, “we’d be in a lot of trouble. Depending on how close it was, it could remove our atmosphere, and there would be an enormous radiation bath.” Listen, I’m all in favor of a good fireworks show, but not so much with the losing of the atmosphere and the radiation bath, and the dying and the screaming and the hurn. Bad enough we have to worry about meteors smacking into home base, now we have to fret over supernovae in our own galaxy. How the hell have we survived this long? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/2 "2006-02-26T02:00:10Z")
> [@JonScribe](#): > > …and the hurn. The hurn? ANYTHING but the hurn!! What the hell is a hurn? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/3 "2006-02-26T02:04:46Z")
Sorry, a Jerry Lewis reference sounded appropriate for a freak-out of this nature. Mebbe I should have said “gafloigle.” ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/4 "2006-02-26T02:09:09Z")
Don’t sweat it . . . First of all, GRBs are fairly rare, and the odds of one occuring in our Galaxy any time soon are quite low. Even if one does occur in the Milky Way, we’d have to be in the beam of the gamma-ray burst to get really really cooked. Yep, if we’re talkin’ death from the skies, my money’s still on asteroids or comets. ---
**Author:** ![LucyInDisguise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucyindisguise/32/18064_2.png) [@LucyInDisguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LucyInDisguise)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/5 "2006-02-26T02:28:03Z")
> [@Podkayne](#): > > Don’t sweat it . . . First of all, GRBs are fairly rare, and the odds of one occuring in our Galaxy any time soon are quite low. Even if one does occur in the Milky Way, we’d have to be in the beam of the gamma-ray burst to get really really cooked. > > Yep, if we’re talkin’ death from the skies, my money’s still on asteroids or comets. Could be worse. Thought I saw a Vogon Constructor Ship in the sky last night. The I realized it was just an SEP 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/6 "2006-02-26T03:07:07Z")
> [@LucyInDisguise](#): > > The I realized it was just an SEP 😃 If only Effrafax of Wug had had one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/7 "2006-02-26T03:10:55Z")
> [@JonScribe](#): > > Mebbe I should have said “gafloigle.” With the dying and the screaming and the _glayvin_! ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/8 "2006-02-26T03:44:01Z")
That’s the word I wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/9 "2006-02-26T04:32:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Don’t sweat it . . . First of all, GRBs are fairly rare, and the odds of one occuring in our Galaxy any time soon are quite low. Start sweating. Betelgeuse (aka Alpha Orionis) is heading towards a supernova “soon”. Of course in astronomical terms soon could be tomorrow or it could be 50000 years from now. And Betelgeuse isn’t 440,000,000 light years away. It isn’t 1,000,000 light years away. It isn’t even 1000 light years away. It is in fact 427 light years away. When it goes bang, we’re going to notice. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/10 "2006-02-26T04:50:03Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Betelgeuse Ah, Beetlejuice, always causing trouble aren’t you ? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/11 "2006-02-26T05:33:42Z")
Guess I better start packing. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/12 "2006-02-26T06:08:11Z")
> [@LucyInDisguise](#): > > Thought I saw a Vogon Constructor Ship in the sky last night. Darn it! I was going to make a crack about Vogons! Now I only have those wimpy crop circle aliens to work with. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/13 "2006-02-26T06:47:10Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > The hurn? ANYTHING but the hurn!! > > What the hell is a hurn? 😃 Ya ever see one of those movies on the Late Late Show that ends with Nuclear Armageddon? They turn off the soundtrack for that part of the movie, to simulate what a Planet Earth with no life left on its surface would sound like. So you turn up your TV, but you still can’t hear anything, so you turn it up all the way, and the only thing you can hear is the hum of the audio amplifier in your TV set. That’s the hum. And then they cut to a commercial of some fat guy shouting about how he can sell you a new sofa for the change in the cushions of your old one, only it’s EALLY LOUD because you still have your TV turned up all the way, and it wakes up the baby, and the dog, and your wife, who shouts at you to turn off the f\*cking TV and come to bed. Anyway, that hum. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/14 "2006-02-26T10:02:11Z")
Okay, where can one aim their telescope, and will the Hubble be catching any of this? This is a must see. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/15 "2006-02-26T10:30:26Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Start sweating. Betelgeuse (aka Alpha Orionis) is heading towards a supernova “soon”. Of course in astronomical terms soon could be tomorrow or it could be 50000 years from now. > > And Betelgeuse isn’t 440,000,000 light years away. It isn’t 1,000,000 light years away. It isn’t even 1000 light years away. It is in fact 427 light years away. When it goes bang, we’re going to notice. Yeah, but does it’s axis if rotation point towards us? I’d think that would be pretty unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/16 "2006-02-26T15:33:22Z")
**ParentalAdvisory** , you can read a little bit more about it [here](http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/060223_explosion.html). Note that [space.com](http://space.com) describes it somewhat differently from the Sun, but the catalog number (GRB 060218) is the same, so it’s the same event they’re talking about. > [@SPACE.com](#): > > It was spotted by NASA’s Swift telescope and is being monitored by other telescopes around the world as scientists wait to see what will happen. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/17 "2006-02-26T15:40:38Z")
You guys joke, but think about the poor people living on a planet revolving around that star! They’re all going to die! And we will never know anything about them! Won’t someone think of the aliens??? ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/18 "2006-02-26T15:53:26Z")
The article, I think, is a bit remiss in using the term “supernova.” This is outside my specialty and is a rapidly advancing field, but inasmuch as we understand GRBs at all, I thought they were beleived to originate in hypernovae. Hypernovae only occur (if _they_ actually occur in the way current models suggest) in supermassive stars. The nearest star to Earth that could potentially go hypernoa is Eta Carinae. It is a violently variable star, implying that whatever it’s going to do, it’s going to do it relatively soon. Because it’s such an oddball star, we cannot determine its size and distance precisely but its mass is 100-150 times the mass of the Sun, and 7500-10,000 ly away–too far to destroy life on Earth if it goes hypernova, but it might have some adverse effects on us. Betelgeuse has up to 20 times the mass of the Sun, and is going to be a garden-variety Type II supernova; a pretty show, for sure, but at 430 (+/- 100) ly away, unlikely to have a significant effect on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/19 "2006-02-26T16:28:59Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > You guys joke, but think about the poor people living on a planet revolving around that star! They’re all going to die! And we will never know anything about them! Won’t someone think of the aliens??? It’s the only way to stop the horrible planet of the apes. What must be done must be done. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2006, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134/20 "2006-02-26T16:33:07Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > You guys joke, but think about the poor people living on a planet revolving around that star! They’re all going to die! And we will never know anything about them! Won’t someone think of the aliens??? Don’t worry. Their top scientist put his only son in a space ship aimed at Earth before the star went boom. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oooooh-supernova-oh-sh-t/346134.md?page=2)