Supernova threatens life on earth?

[MORTY]

The Earth could be wiped out by the explosion of a star more than 3,000 light years away, according to US scientists.

The star, called T Pyxidis, is about to self-destruct in an explosion called a supernova with the force of 20 billion billion billion megatons of TNT.

The 3,000 light-year distance is considered a fairly short way in galactic terms and the blast from the thermonuclear explosion could strip away the Earth's ozone layer. Which is not good.

The doomsday scenario was described yesterday by astronomers from Villanova University, Philadelphia, US.

T Pyxidis is really two stars, one called a white dwarf that is sucking in gas and steadily growing. When it reaches a critical mass it will blow itself to pieces.

The experts said the Hubble space telescope has photographed the star gearing up for its big bang with a series of smaller blasts or "burps", called novas. These explosions came regularly about every 20 years from 1890 - but stopped after 1967. So the next blast is nearly 20 years overdue.

Squeaky bum time?

source: http://www.asylum.co.uk/2010/01/07/s...fe-on-earth%2F

2012 any one lol?!

[raves475]

Well, the good news would be that if the explosion were traveling as fast as the speed of light, it would take at least 3,000 years the reach us. We should be able to escape by then.

Maybe the world is really supposed to end in 5012, lol

[$$kneel-B4-me$$]

or maybe it already happened 2998 yrs ago and its almost close enough to decipate us, but if a "UFO" can fly faster than light then why cant an mega explosion? have we ever watched a super-nova explosion to be able to judge how fast it travels?

[biggabum]

Mmmmm so weve got Nibiru coming, a huge solar flare, a supernova and global warming. i wonder if i can get odds on what gets us first.

[Mingus]

Originally Posted by $$kneel-B4-me$$

or maybe it already happened 2998 yrs ago and its almost close enough to decipate us, but if a "UFO" can fly faster than light then why cant an mega explosion? have we ever watched a super-nova explosion to be able to judge how fast it travels?

UFO's are generally thought to be physics-defying vehicles, thus their ability to fly faster than light. They are also dependent on loopholes in physics that allow great distances to be traversed in little or no time. A supernova is a naturally occurring event that adheres to naturally occurring physical laws. Given that these explosions are mainly light, it is physically impossible for it to travel faster than light in the vacuum of space (which is what the measurement of light speed is based off of). This, in other words, means that we still have yet to see the explosion happen, though it already has happened. It will be an interesting site to see when the supernova does go off, for we will end up seeing the blast from here and, if I'm not mistaken, it probably will be visible in the daylight too.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Mingus

UFO's are generally thought to be physics-defying vehicles, thus their ability to fly faster than light. They are also dependent on loopholes in physics that allow great distances to be traversed in little or no time. A supernova is a naturally occurring event that adheres to naturally occurring physical laws. Given that these explosions are mainly light, it is physically impossible for it to travel faster than light in the vacuum of space (which is what the measurement of light speed is based off of). This, in other words, means that we still have yet to see the explosion happen, though it already has happened. It will be an interesting site to see when the supernova does go off, for we will end up seeing the blast from here and, if I'm not mistaken, it probably will be visible in the daylight too.

That is pretty cool, I agree!

I would love to see this even if it would be the death of me.

[TheNugzMan]

Originally Posted by raves475

Well, the good news would be that if the explosion were traveling as fast as the speed of light, it would take at least 3,000 years the reach us. We should be able to escape by then.

Maybe the world is really supposed to end in 5012, lol

Not exactly, we are seeing the star as it appeared 3,000 years ago. We wont notice the supernova until the light from it reaches us. So when we can see the supernova, we are seeing it explode 3,000 years ago therefore, we are getting hit by whatever it is spitting out at us.

[raves475]

Good point!

[raves475]

but the supernova isn't traveling at the speed of light so we should notice it before hand.