4 ms·

They are. Luckily the only GRB candidate close enough to do that is eta carinae and it's probably pointing in the wrong direction.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
dima_vm 4y ago
Sounds like it's a perfect case where "probably" is not enough.
- BurningFrog 4y ago
  It's probably enough.
- lallysingh 4y ago
  Enough for what? Useless worry? I don't think there's much we could do about it.
- Beltalowda 4y ago
  I mean, not much you can do about it, can you? Either way, it's not likely to produce a GRB in the first place, it's too far away to really affect the earth in dramatic sci-fi story ways, and it's pointed in the wrong way. It's a "GRB candidate" in the same way you're a "lottery winner candidate" if you buy a ticket.
  - echelon 4y ago
    > I mean, not much you can do about it, can you? Work to shed our biology faster. We'll get to that sometime in the next hundred years or so.
    - suggestion 4y ago
      Mate I've got some bad news for you
  - doctor_eval 4y ago
    What does “pointed in the wrong direction” mean? Isn’t it a sphere? Genuine question; I am ignorant of such things.
    - Beltalowda 4y ago
      Stars have a magnetic field and rotate along their axis, similar to planets. The burst is emitted along the axis of rotation (the geographic north and south pole). Many stellar objects rotate and/or have a magnetic field, and thus an "up", "down", and "side" in spite of being a sphere. Pulsars (extinguished stars that emit radio waves from their poles) are another famous example.
    - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
      > What does “pointed in the wrong direction” mean? Gamma-ray bursts [1] are a class of observations, not single event. (Like how we first saw pulsars, and then learned they're neutron stars.) Some GRBs may originate from relativistic jets [2] emitted by massive, spinning, charged objects colliding (e.g. black holes) or collapsing (supernovae). Those jets' intensity is not uniform, they emit from the poles. (See: spinning, charged.) There are other proposed mechanisms that columnate emissions [3][4]. These involve a star's rotation creating a radiating column along the star's axis. (I'm not sure if the atoms in that column radiate with a bias.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_jet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_jet [3] https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9808355 https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9808355 [4] https://www.plasma-universe.com/gamma-ray-bursts/ https://www.plasma-universe.com/gamma-ray-bursts/
    - mrshadowgoose 4y ago
      Stars, like planets, rotate around an axis. GRBs that are emitted by collapsing stars are believed to be directionally aligned with the axis of rotation.
  - dylan604 4y ago
    >I mean, not much you can do about it, can you? AKA: How I stopped worrying and learned to love the GRB
JohnJamesRambo 4y ago
Your comment helped my worrying about this a lot, thank you.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

dima_vm 4y ago

Sounds like it's a perfect case where "probably" is not enough.

BurningFrog 4y ago
It's probably enough.
lallysingh 4y ago
Enough for what? Useless worry? I don't think there's much we could do about it.
Beltalowda 4y ago
I mean, not much you can do about it, can you? Either way, it's not likely to produce a GRB in the first place, it's too far away to really affect the earth in dramatic sci-fi story ways, and it's pointed in the wrong way. It's a "GRB candidate" in the same way you're a "lottery winner candidate" if you buy a ticket.
- echelon 4y ago
  > I mean, not much you can do about it, can you? Work to shed our biology faster. We'll get to that sometime in the next hundred years or so.
  - suggestion 4y ago
    Mate I've got some bad news for you
- doctor_eval 4y ago
  What does “pointed in the wrong direction” mean? Isn’t it a sphere? Genuine question; I am ignorant of such things.
  - Beltalowda 4y ago
    Stars have a magnetic field and rotate along their axis, similar to planets. The burst is emitted along the axis of rotation (the geographic north and south pole). Many stellar objects rotate and/or have a magnetic field, and thus an "up", "down", and "side" in spite of being a sphere. Pulsars (extinguished stars that emit radio waves from their poles) are another famous example.
  - JumpCrisscross 4y ago
    > What does “pointed in the wrong direction” mean? Gamma-ray bursts [1] are a class of observations, not single event. (Like how we first saw pulsars, and then learned they're neutron stars.) Some GRBs may originate from relativistic jets [2] emitted by massive, spinning, charged objects colliding (e.g. black holes) or collapsing (supernovae). Those jets' intensity is not uniform, they emit from the poles. (See: spinning, charged.) There are other proposed mechanisms that columnate emissions [3][4]. These involve a star's rotation creating a radiating column along the star's axis. (I'm not sure if the atoms in that column radiate with a bias.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_jet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrophysical_jet [3] https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9808355 https://arxiv.org/abs/astro-ph/9808355 [4] https://www.plasma-universe.com/gamma-ray-bursts/ https://www.plasma-universe.com/gamma-ray-bursts/
  - mrshadowgoose 4y ago
    Stars, like planets, rotate around an axis. GRBs that are emitted by collapsing stars are believed to be directionally aligned with the axis of rotation.
- dylan604 4y ago
  >I mean, not much you can do about it, can you? AKA: How I stopped worrying and learned to love the GRB

JohnJamesRambo 4y ago

Your comment helped my worrying about this a lot, thank you.