Gamma ray burst detected?

Apologies if this is already posted...

source


Got me all excited for a minute!!

a reply to: korkythecat

Was but isn't gamma burst...sigh.

Anyway you could have helped your post with more info, even general stuff....cause most of us are like gamma what?

And a commentary on what makes this an interesting topic to yourself and others.

Just my 2 extinct pennies, and what's ment as helpfull advise.

Cheers and thanks for the read.

a reply to: korkythecat

Hi, and thanks for the post. A good first post usually has a quote from the sourced article, and explains as much as you are able about what the thread is about and it's potential impact. Gamma rays, ha, I eat them for breakfast.

Atomically speaking it is releasing Energy
why?
Goes against, natural law of "im not moving unless i have too"
were there Photons as well?
in waves?


a reply to: Aleister

Gamma radiation is high energy electromagnetic radiation which is biologically hazardous.

If a large gamma ray burst happened within 8,000 light years from earth, it would strip off our ozone layer and basically fry us. Some physicists think gamma ray bursts may be responsible for mass extinctions.

They think the one observed today occurred as two neutron stars collided. Not only did they give off gamma rays but also gravity waves:

“In such systems, Einstein's theory of general relativity predicts that neutron stars emit gravitational radiation, ripples of space-time. This causes the orbits to shrink and gradually brings the neutron stars closer together.

Here's what two neutron stars colliding could look like:



Needless to say, it's pretty nasty.

To be honest I am just as afraid of asteroids as I am of gamma ray bursts. Asteroids are much more likely to hit earth, at least I would think so, but a gamma ray burst is still terrifying. The good news is that these bursts would have to be aimed right at us to do any damage. They have two beams that shoot out, which means the chances of them hitting a small target like earth is slim. But we may not even see one coming. By the time the light from a supernova reaches us, so does the burst. I don't know what all it would do, but it would likely fry the ozone layer completely, which I don't have to tell you is a bad thing. Probably would not recover from that.

Even with all the talk of the depletion of the ozone layer it has likely only decreased by maybe 5%, or perhaps even less. But even a short gamma ray burst, lasting just seconds, could potentially deplete a large percentage, or even the whole, of that protection. So while it is a scary thing, as far as destruction of life as we know it, the odds should be on the side of the earth. Which is good news.

According to NASA, not an energetic outburst of any kind, as it turns out, but a constant source, and of a much lower energy than originally calculated. see link below:
gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/gcn3/16336.gcn3

Even if it was a Gamma Ray burst, this would only be exciting to astronomers and such. Nothing for us normal folk to care about, especially when it wouldn't involve mass power grid outages SHTF and Walking Dead kinda stuff. *snap*

a reply to: ionwind

Thanks for clearing up the cosmology some, it's helpful to me understanding.

I had no,idea this was as present an issue as meteor Impacts etc.

Distinctly speaking this only solidifies my comprehension of a larger framework at play.

Cheers too you!