Sunday, March 23, 2008

7,500,000,000 years ago...

...a gigantic star, some forty times the size of our own Sol, blew itself apart in a titanic burst of radiation, flinging a sleet of gamma rays across the universe, and we just found out about it the other day. The mail sure does run slow in this neck of the woods.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Damn speed limit.

Tam said...

If you violate it, you probably get pulled over by a black hole.

Anonymous said...

Just think. If I remember right there was a comment recently that if it were to happen again today, the earth would be gone by the time it got here.

We only have about 7e9 more years left before the sun takes us out or so the astrophys's say.

Matt G said...

7.5 billion light years away.
And a light year is 5.9 trillion miles.

44,250,000,000,000,000,000,000 miles away.

(Heh. He said "sextillion.")

Tam said...

I wouldn't want to have to walk there.

dave said...

The mail sure does run slow in this neck of the woods.
Hire a government to do a private-sector job....

Anonymous said...

First, there was nothing.

Then it exploded.

Anonymous said...

Talk about sign and wonders in the sky! This big deal will hardly get noticed but it may be another in a series of signs that Christ will soon return. Where are you going to spend eternity?

staghounds said...

And THAT, folks, is why I check out the view from this porch. Might never have contemplated an event so huge that it happened so far away and I could still see it with my little eye.

Thank you, scientists, explorers, the universe, and Tamara for the little reminder.

Anonymous said...

LOOKING BACK IN TIME IS GREAT DON'T YOU THANK.
AND WHO IS GOING TO SEE IT NEXT AND HOW LONG FROM NOW

Anonymous said...

I've calculated this, and I'm more than certain the flash was no more than 7,499,999,999 years old.

Anonymous said...

Quick, Has anyone blamed the Bush Administration yet?
Diamondback