5 ms·

I’m not enough of an astrophysicist to do this math myself, but what would this kind of burst look like from Earth? Observable w a telescope? W the naked eye? E

by emmett 8y ago

I’m not enough of an astrophysicist to do this math myself, but what would this kind of burst look like from Earth? Observable w a telescope? W the naked eye? Enter a bomb shelter and save yourself?

skykooler 8y ago
This star system is about 8000 light-years away. For comparison, in 1572 a different star, also about 8000 light-years away, was observed to go supernova. At its brightest, it was reported to be about as bright as Venus. This supernova would probably reach similar brightness levels.
- francisofascii 8y ago
  Interesting story. You have to wonder if the "Christmas" star was a supernova like this one. It suddenly appears, becomes visible during the day for a few weeks, then slowly vanishes for about a year.
  - macintux 8y ago
    There was a sci-fi short story about this, in which a team of explorers found the Christmas star...and the remnants of the civilization which wiped out as a consequence.
    - syntheticnature 8y ago
      It was "The Star", by Arthur C. Clarke. Worth noting that the viewpoint character is a Jesuit priest. https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf
      - hardlianotion 8y ago
        Never heard of it. Thanks!
  - sizzzzlerz 8y ago
    or, whether it actually happened. no other cultures with astronomical knowledge have ever been found to have reported on such a star ~2000 years ago. if there was a sighting visible in the med region, it was likely an asteroid or, possibly, Jupiter.
    - francisofascii 8y ago
      No other cultures? The Chinese recorded a "comet" in 5 BC that appeared for 70 days. Maybe the "comet" was a supernova. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7026 https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B70...
      - sizzzzlerz 8y ago
        I saw that article. If you read a little further, the position of the comet couldn't have led the so-called wisemen to Bethleham (yet another apocryphal tale). So, still no other cultures.
        skykooler 8y ago
        This reminds me of an interesting piece on what paths the wisemen would have taken if they followed a star continuously: https://what-if.xkcd.com/25/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/25/
dougmwne 8y ago
It's been suggested that a gamma ray burst close enough to earth could cause a mass extinction and may have done so in the past. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004IJAsB...3...55M http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004IJAsB...3...55M
- mannykannot 8y ago
  About 5 years ago, it was being suggested that the Wolf-Rayet star WR 104 might cause a dangerous gamma-ray burst when it goes supernova, but these things are highly directional, and I think the current consensus is that it is not aligned closely enough to be harmful. Apep is at a similar distance (~8,000 light years), and the article seems to be suggesting it will likely be more powerful than WR 104 is expected to be, but there is at least one news article is claiming that it is probably not pointed at us. https://newatlas.com/gamma-ray-burst-star-supernova/57308/ https://newatlas.com/gamma-ray-burst-star-supernova/57308/ (On looking into this, I began to think that Apep and WR104 might be the same thing, but they have different locations.)
ChuckMcM 8y ago
It could put on a nice show as one did for Kepler (https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/03/24/hey-where-are-all-the-milky-way-supernovas/ https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/03/24/hey-where-are-all...) but generally it wouldn't be much more than a curiosity for non-astronomers[1]. If it does generate a gamma ray burst, then that is a more interesting phenomena. Depending on whether or not it is pointed in our direction, we might see more or less energy from it directly. After travelling 8000 light years and passing through all the dust between us and the planet, it would be seriously attenuated and unlikely to cause any destruction or even noticeable effects on earth. [1] Astrologers on the other hand, it could be the sign that the end of the world is nigh :-)
- hardlianotion 8y ago
  If it is pointed directly at us, 8000 light years away is close enough to make the gamma ray burst a possible extinction event. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/wr-104-nearby-gamma-ray-burst https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/wr-104-nearby-gamma-ray-burst
  - jackhack 8y ago
    >If it is pointed directly at us Is a gamma burst directional, or spherical in term of high-energy emission?
    - wiredfool 8y ago
      Directional, and this one is apparently pointed about 30 degrees away from us.
      - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
        Can you point me to a source for that "about 30 degrees away from us"? I haven't seen it. And, how directional? All the energy is spread across half the sky? Only 10 degrees? Or only one degree? Is 30 degrees enough for it to completely miss us? Mostly miss us? Or are we still in the danger cone? Finally, in a binary star system, is that 30 degrees going to change as the stars orbit each other? (Worse, IIRC, there's a third, more distant star. Can it change the orbit of the other two in a way that shifts that 30 degrees?)
prolikewh0a 8y ago
There have been reports of Supernova's (SN 1006) @ a visual magnitude of -7.5 during the day which might be visible by human eyes, however this was a very long time ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1006 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1006

by emmett 8y ago

skykooler 8y ago

This star system is about 8000 light-years away. For comparison, in 1572 a different star, also about 8000 light-years away, was observed to go supernova. At its brightest, it was reported to be about as bright as Venus. This supernova would probably reach similar brightness levels.

francisofascii 8y ago
Interesting story. You have to wonder if the "Christmas" star was a supernova like this one. It suddenly appears, becomes visible during the day for a few weeks, then slowly vanishes for about a year.
- macintux 8y ago
  There was a sci-fi short story about this, in which a team of explorers found the Christmas star...and the remnants of the civilization which wiped out as a consequence.
  - syntheticnature 8y ago
    It was "The Star", by Arthur C. Clarke. Worth noting that the viewpoint character is a Jesuit priest. https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf https://sites.uni.edu/morgans/astro/course/TheStar.pdf
    - hardlianotion 8y ago
      Never heard of it. Thanks!
- sizzzzlerz 8y ago
  or, whether it actually happened. no other cultures with astronomical knowledge have ever been found to have reported on such a star ~2000 years ago. if there was a sighting visible in the med region, it was likely an asteroid or, possibly, Jupiter.
  - francisofascii 8y ago
    No other cultures? The Chinese recorded a "comet" in 5 BC that appeared for 70 days. Maybe the "comet" was a supernova. https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B7026 https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E6%BC%A2%E6%9B%B8/%E5%8D%B70...
    - sizzzzlerz 8y ago
      I saw that article. If you read a little further, the position of the comet couldn't have led the so-called wisemen to Bethleham (yet another apocryphal tale). So, still no other cultures.
      - skykooler 8y ago
        This reminds me of an interesting piece on what paths the wisemen would have taken if they followed a star continuously: https://what-if.xkcd.com/25/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/25/

dougmwne 8y ago

It's been suggested that a gamma ray burst close enough to earth could cause a mass extinction and may have done so in the past. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004IJAsB...3...55M http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2004IJAsB...3...55M

mannykannot 8y ago
About 5 years ago, it was being suggested that the Wolf-Rayet star WR 104 might cause a dangerous gamma-ray burst when it goes supernova, but these things are highly directional, and I think the current consensus is that it is not aligned closely enough to be harmful. Apep is at a similar distance (~8,000 light years), and the article seems to be suggesting it will likely be more powerful than WR 104 is expected to be, but there is at least one news article is claiming that it is probably not pointed at us. https://newatlas.com/gamma-ray-burst-star-supernova/57308/ https://newatlas.com/gamma-ray-burst-star-supernova/57308/ (On looking into this, I began to think that Apep and WR104 might be the same thing, but they have different locations.)

ChuckMcM 8y ago

It could put on a nice show as one did for Kepler (https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/03/24/hey-where-are-all-the-milky-way-supernovas/ https://astrobob.areavoices.com/2013/03/24/hey-where-are-all...) but generally it wouldn't be much more than a curiosity for non-astronomers[1]. If it does generate a gamma ray burst, then that is a more interesting phenomena. Depending on whether or not it is pointed in our direction, we might see more or less energy from it directly. After travelling 8000 light years and passing through all the dust between us and the planet, it would be seriously attenuated and unlikely to cause any destruction or even noticeable effects on earth. [1] Astrologers on the other hand, it could be the sign that the end of the world is nigh :-)

hardlianotion 8y ago
If it is pointed directly at us, 8000 light years away is close enough to make the gamma ray burst a possible extinction event. https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/wr-104-nearby-gamma-ray-burst https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/wr-104-nearby-gamma-ray-burst
- jackhack 8y ago
  >If it is pointed directly at us Is a gamma burst directional, or spherical in term of high-energy emission?
  - wiredfool 8y ago
    Directional, and this one is apparently pointed about 30 degrees away from us.
    - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
      Can you point me to a source for that "about 30 degrees away from us"? I haven't seen it. And, how directional? All the energy is spread across half the sky? Only 10 degrees? Or only one degree? Is 30 degrees enough for it to completely miss us? Mostly miss us? Or are we still in the danger cone? Finally, in a binary star system, is that 30 degrees going to change as the stars orbit each other? (Worse, IIRC, there's a third, more distant star. Can it change the orbit of the other two in a way that shifts that 30 degrees?)

prolikewh0a 8y ago

There have been reports of Supernova's (SN 1006) @ a visual magnitude of -7.5 during the day which might be visible by human eyes, however this was a very long time ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1006 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1006