6 ms·

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

by dima_vm 4y ago

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

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