Star-Eating Black Hole!

[JackLuis]

Star-eating black hole sends flash from distant galaxy

http://www.rawstory.com/rs//wp-content/uploads/2011/06/GammaBurst0616.jpg​

WASHINGTON — A bright gamma-ray flash seen in March came from a distant galaxy nearly four billion light years away where a Sun-sized star was being eaten by a black hole, US astronomers said Thursday.

"This could happen in our own galaxy, where a black hole sits at the center living in quiescence, and occasionally burbles or hiccups as it swallows a little bit of gas. From a distance, it would appear dormant, until a star randomly wanders too close and is shredded."

Don't you love how scientists make you feel secure?

 

[lovecraft68]

No worries the earth would be too hard to swallow. It would spit us out and we would just leave a bad taste in its mouth.

 

[stephen55]

Gamma ray bursts are among the most interesting and energetic of all astronomical events.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/Gamma_ray_burst.jpg/300px-Gamma_ray_burst.jpg
"Artist's illustration showing the life of a massive star as nuclear fusion converts lighter elements into heavier ones. When fusion no longer generates enough pressure to counteract gravity, the star rapidly collapses to form a black hole. Theoretically, energy may be released during the collapse along the axis of rotation to form a gamma-ray burst."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma-ray_burst

Gamma ray bursts (GRB) were first observed in 1967 by American Vela satellites which were put in orbit to detect possible nuclear weapons tests in space by the Soviets, in contradiction to the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963. Almost immediately, these satellites detected gamma ray bursts but they were entirely different from the type of burst that would be the signature of an atomic weapon blast.

Current satellites detect about one burst per day. Given that these satellites are capable of detecting bursts pretty much from the entire volume of the visible universe, a gamma ray burst is a very rare event in a galaxy. If a burst did go off in the Milky Way within about a kiloparsec (approximately 3,000 light-years) and the beam of the burst did hit the Earth, the effects would be catastrophic.

Don't you love how scientists make you feel secure?

Not to worry, JackLuis, the possibility of a long GRB occurring in the Milky Way is exceedingly remote. There is a possibility of a short GRB occurring in the Milky Way but they likely only occur every 100,000 to 1,000,000 years.

 

[JackLuis]

Gamma ray bursts are among the most interesting and energetic of all astronomical events.
-
If a burst did go off in the Milky Way within about a kiloparsec (approximately 3,000 light-years) and the beam of the burst did hit the Earth, the effects would be catastrophic.
Not to worry, JackLuis, the possibility of a long GRB occurring in the Milky Way is exceedingly remote. There is a possibility of a short GRB occurring in the Milky Way but they likely only occur every 100,000 to 1,000,000 years.

What if the Universe is just a giant energy source created by X to power his equivalent of a i-Pod? And we are 'collateral damage?'

 

[mynameisben]

What if the Universe is just a giant energy source created by X to power his equivalent of a i-Pod? And we are 'collateral damage?'

If that is true, then the pot you are smoking is just the cosmic residue of a galactic orgasm converting energy and matter into pure love.

Dood.

 

[JackLuis]

If that is true, then the pot you are smoking is just the cosmic residue of a galactic orgasm converting energy and matter into pure love.

Dood.

I had a feeling it was something like that.

 

[MissTCShore]

I read the thread title and thought this was doing to be about Charlie Sheen.

 

[mynameisben]

I read the thread title and thought this was doing to be about Charlie Sheen.

I thought Chalrie Sheen AND Khloe Kardashian.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Gamma ray bursts are among the most interesting and energetic of all astronomical events.

...

Not to worry, JackLuis, the possibility of a long GRB occurring in the Milky Way is exceedingly remote. There is a possibility of a short GRB occurring in the Milky Way but they likely only occur every 100,000 to 1,000,000 years.

See the problem I have with this time span is that scientists that study this shit have no idea when the last one occurred. Therefore, a major one could happen today and we would never know about it.

 

[JackLuis]

See the problem I have with this time span is that scientists that study this shit have no idea when the last one occurred. Therefore, a major one could happen today and we would never know about it.

Yeah and if the star is close enough and the Gamma burst is aimed directly at us, would we notice? I mean would we feel anything before we were annihilated?

 

[stephen55]

See the problem I have with this time span is that scientists that study this shit have no idea when the last one occurred. Therefore, a major one could happen today and we would never know about it.

Gamma ray bursts are detected about once a day, so it's reasonable to assume they occur every day...somewhere. Actually, if the burst occurred far away, we only detect it if the beam produced (roughly perpendicular to the plane of rotation) happens to point at us. So for every burst detected, there are many more undetected.

So rest uneasy. Gamma ray bursts are...everywhere...

Fortunately, the universe is a vast and distant place.