Joe Bauman wrote:
Great photos, Patrick. Here're some questions I was wondering about: did the SN wipe out any civilizations? We can't know, of course...
But of course we know. And the refugees were just picked up by the shuttle. I mean, have you noticed that Discovery's ground track takes it nearly right over Guantanamo which is where the refugees will be beamed from Discovery? Hmmm, someone ought to call Art Bell. :-) But seriously, if I remember correctly, the kill radius of a "typical" supernova is about 10 parsecs so if there were any populated planets within that distance of the SN they are now toast. Happily I don't think there are any SN candidates within 10 parsecs of us. 'Course there is always the possibility of rogue gamma ray burst. So should you ever find yourself outside one night and see a blue light in the sky you might want to bend over and kiss yourself good-bye. :-) And speaking of being outside, it's clear out so it's time to open my observatory. Anyone have a picture request? Patrick