3 ms·
For reference, one solar mass of radiation is about the same as the output from a gamma ray burst, or about 2000 times the output from a supernova. Or in less
by semi-extrinsic 10y ago
For reference, one solar mass of radiation is about the same as the output from a gamma ray burst, or about 2000 times the output from a supernova.
Or in less sensical units, the energy from detonating 1% of our galaxy's mass worth of TNT.
- dsqrt 10y agoGamma-ray bursts emission is strongly beamed into a small solid angle. So, although their equivalent isotropic energies (that is the energy that would be needed to power gamma-ray bursts if the emission was isotropic) are huge, the actual energies released in gamma-ray bursts are more or less compatible with those of supernovae (~0.1% of a solar mass).
- Scarblac 10y agoAs usual, XKCD provides some help to understand how much energy a supernova is: "Which of the following would be brighter, in terms of the amount of energy delivered to your retina: 1. A supernova, seen from as far away as the Sun is from the Earth, or 2. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball? Answer: the supernova, by nine orders of magnitude." https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/