They are shooting at us!

[n2doc]

Brightest Gamma-ray Burst Provides Wealth Of Information On How Stars Explode

ScienceDaily (Sep. 11, 2008) — Astronomers from around the world combined data from ground- and space-based telescopes to paint a detailed portrait of the brightest explosion ever seen. The observations reveal that the jets of the gamma-ray burst called GRB 080319B were aimed almost directly at the Earth.

GRB 080319B was so intense that, despite happening halfway across the Universe, it could have been seen briefly with the unaided eye (ESO 08/08). In a paper to appear in the 11 September issue of Nature, Judith Racusin of Penn State University, Pennsylvania (USA), and a team of 92 co-authors report observations across the electromagnetic spectrum that began 30 minutes before the explosion and followed it for months afterwards.

“We conclude that the burst's extraordinary brightness arose from a jet that shot material almost directly towards Earth at almost the speed of light – the difference is only 1 part in 20 000,” says Guido Chincarini, a member of the team.

Gamma-ray bursts are the Universe's most luminous explosions. Most occur when massive stars run out of fuel. As a star collapses, it creates a black hole or neutron star that, through processes not fully understood, drives powerful gas jets outward. As the jets shoot into space, they strike gas previously shed by the star and heat it, thereby generating bright afterglows.

more:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080910121502.htm

[LunaSea]

1. I feel like the fly who dodged the swatter

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Oh yeah!

[lutherj]

2. Another alien civilization fires up a large hadron collider. nt

[Speck Tater]

3. If it had happened in our galaxy, and been pointed right at us...

The earth would right now be a smoldering cinder devoid of all life.

[Orsino]

4. But GDP would STILL BE ALIVE. n/t