Space Stars Are Like Human Stars: We Only Pay Attention When They Blow Up

Posted by: Avinash on Thursday, May 10th, 2007

Sometimes we have our heads so deep in our books, our laptops, our Ipods, that we forget there’s a big great universe out there and we’re just a tiny little speck in it. So of course the only time the majority of us pay attention upstairs is when there’s even the slightest possibility of threat from above.

A massive exploding faraway star–the brightest supernova astronomers have ever seen–has scientists wondering whether a similar celestial fireworks show may light up the sky much closer to Earth sometime soon.

The discovery, announced Monday by NASA, drew oohs and aahs for months from the handful of astronomers who peered through telescopes to see the fuzzy remnants of the spectacular explosion after it was first spotted last fall.

Using a variety of Earth and space telescopes, astronomers found a giant exploding star that they figure has shined about five times brighter than any of the hundreds of supernovae ever seen before, said discovery team leader Nathan Smith of the University of California at Berkeley. The discovery was first made last September by a graduate student in Texas.

Sadly, the threat to mankind looks too remote and not substantial enough for religious evangelists/greedy entrepreneurs to benefit off of the fears of the American populace, since the next supernova that might have a big impact is about, oh, 50 millenia and 44 quadrillion miles away. Plus it’s only those bastards in the Southern Hemisphere who get the treat of watching it. So we assume the trees in Bolivia will have plenty of time to get ready for the big show.

Largest, brightest supernova discovered [UC Berkeley Newscenter]
Astronomers Spot Exploding Faraway Star [CBS News]
(Image from UpCheer)



Topics: Sciences, UC Berkeley

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