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An exceptional object in our cosmic neighborhood discovered
- DanI-S 16y agoDoes anyone know how this compares with NASA's usual routine for announcing cool discoveries? The internet seems to be getting all excited about this, but if this kind of vague press conference announcement is just their standard way of announcing a new funky-looking cloud of gas, a lot of UFO hunters are going to be disappointed... Edit: Not that I don't personally find funky-looking clouds of gas fascinating, but if you google 'exceptional object' right now the top results are all conspiracy theory websites.
- ceejayoz 16y agoI know I've seen a lot of NASA releases described in terms like this. "Exceptional" to astrophysicists and "exceptional" to the general public are definitely different things. I'm sure it'll be cool from a scientific perspective, but it's definitely not going to be alien signals or anything.
- robryan 16y agoThe last one I saw with similar wording was for an exoplanet system with I think 4 planets, which was somewhat similar to our own and may have contained a planet less than twice the size of Earth. So to the general public by no means earth shattering. First thing I though of was a red dwarf or similar to be the new closest known star but I don't think that's really xray based.
- pyre 16y agoIt's Nemesis. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_(star) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_(star)
- Panoramix 16y agoDo you have some insider information or you made this up? I believe it's a possibility, since Chandra is able to detect brown dwarfs.
- 8ren 16y agovapor, where?
- jarin 16y agoMy guess would be a nearby black hole.
- stcredzero 16y agoThat would be bad news, not that there'd likely be any danger of being "sucked in." That would be bad news because black holes can release large amounts of energy very quickly. A nearby black hole would greatly increase the risk of an event wiping out the human species or our biosphere.
- kingkawn 16y agoIt wouldn't be so bad because there'd be nobody left to feel sorry about it.
- mattiask 16y agoOf all the ways for humanity to go out, that would be one of the cooler, not with a whimper but with bang! :)
- exit 16y agothink about how much tragic suffering occurs every day on this planet. think about how much lies behind and ahead of us. it's unfortunate every moment that humanity isn't wiped out.
- jokermatt999 16y agoThink about how much transcendent joy occurs every day on this planet. Think about how much beauty there is, how much to see, how much to experience. Every single moment is incredible, a (for lack of a better word) miracle defying the odds that we arose, gained intelligence, and lived long enough to think about it. It's all a matter of perspective. (and no, I didn't downvote you)
- exit 16y agothis is a selfish appeal. think about how much profound suffering occurs every day on this planet. now consider that people who do not exist clearly cannot be bothered by not existing.
- danteembermage 16y agoI'd say it was the two galaxy sized bubbles immediately above and below the plane of the Milky Way that were just discovered but they used the Fermi Gamma-Ray Telescope for those. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8125127/Giant-space-bubbles-baffle-astronomers.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/space/8125127/Giant-space...
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- iwr 16y agoSo what did NASA announce after all? Edit: Apparently, this: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_10-299_CHANDRA.html http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_10-299_CHANDRA.h... "Astronomers using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory have found evidence of the youngest black hole known to exist in our cosmic neighborhood" "The 30-year-old object is a remnant of SN 1979C, a supernova in the galaxy M100 approximately 50 million light years from Earth." Well, pretty underwhelming.
- guscost 16y agoI take it this means "something exceptional that is not an iPad."
- seejay 16y agoMore information URL: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/chandra/main/index.html
- acqq 16y agoSo much for what they announce as unusual: 10.26.10 "NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory has observed an unusual galaxy cluster that contains a bright core of relatively cool gas surrounding a quasar called 3C 186. This is the most distant such object yet observed, and could provide insight into the triggering of quasars and the growth of galaxy clusters." Stop the presses. :)
- jarin 16y agoHmm "the most distant such object yet observed" does not sound like something they would brand as "in our cosmic neighborhood".
- acqq 16y agoI've made an argument about what wording they use about their discoveries, I haven't claimed that quote to match the currently announced one. It's just their latest news item on the page.
- initself 16y agoAliens!
- mattiask 16y agoI hope "exceptional object in our cosmic neighborhood" doesn't mean "big astereoid coming our way" ;)
- snitko 16y agoNASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has unveiled a previously unseen structure centred in the Milky Way. The feature spans 50,000 light-years and may be the remnant of an eruption from a supersized black hole at the centre of our galaxy. "What we see are two gamma-ray-emitting bubbles that extend 25,000 light-years north and south of the galactic centre," said Doug Finkbeiner, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who first recognised the feature. "We don't fully understand their nature or origin..." Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoftheday/8125431/Pictures-of-the-day-11-November-2010.html http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/picturesoft...
- ugh 16y agoThe press conference seems to be about a discovery by Chandra (X-ray), not Fermi (Gamma-ray), so it’s probably about something different.
- iwr 16y agoCould be a brown-dwarf-sized companion to our star, a possible answer for the relative scarcity of objects beyond 50 or so au.