Posted on 09/27/2005 9:35:59 AM PDT by Esther Ruth
Maybe. But maybe strange things have been happening for a long time and we're just more aware of them. We have an awful lot of quite intelligent sensors keeping track of a tremendous number of things these days. I don't think this magnetar event would have been noticed 30 years ago, other than by satellites whose purpose was classified, along with the data they generated.
"Don't you agree that strange things are happening more frequently?"
It's a big universe; stuff happens all the time in it. This particular event happened about 50,000 years ago; we're just now seeing it.
I didn't know they had habanero pepper burritos back then!
Take that! Mother Nature.
A few questions for those who know more than I do about this. Could this cracking of the crust be a sign of imminent collapse of the star, perhaps to form a singularity? Could this thing turn black hole? Would such an event fundamentally alter the structure of our galaxy, or would it simply be drawn in to the center?
It's not increased frequency. We're just better at detecting it.
Black holes seem to be very common in galaxies. If they were apt to swallow their galaxies, that would be happening. It is not happening--we ought to note that fact in our cosmological theories.
You need to direct your question to this guy:
RadioAstronomer Ping.
(steely)
Amazing power considering the star is only about 6 miles in diameter. Really hard to believe.
"A few questions for those who know more than I do about this. Could this cracking of the crust be a sign of imminent collapse of the star, perhaps to form a singularity? Could this thing turn black hole? Would such an event fundamentally alter the structure of our galaxy, or would it simply be drawn in to the center?"
Probably not. Collapsing stars often blow off a bunch of their surface material, just before collapsing totally, but this cracking thing is a newly-observed phenomenon. I suspect the enormous interest is because it hasn't been seen before.
New instruments are making possible the study of a lot of things we haven't seen before, so it's a bit early to tell what this cracking star will lead to.
Dang big quake, though!
At the end of the article are links to others related, mentions black holes...this is one, see other links also..
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/050718_star_quake.html
People see "signs" whenver it suits them. The Islamofacists think that Hurricane Katrina is a sign. I think that it's a sign of something when people think natural events are a sign.
My brain at first saw "Star Huge Crack Quakes" for some reason.
Inverse square rule. The same event at roughly one-fourth the distance would have sixteen times the impact to Earth.
From this article:
Solar storms also alter the shape of Earth's ionosphere, a region of the atmosphere 50 miles (80 kilometers) up where gas is so thin that electrons can be stripped from atoms and molecules -- they are ionized -- and roam free for short periods. Fluctuations in solar radiation cause the ionosphere to expand and contract.So, it seems to me that, depending upon how "much smaller" the impact was than that of a "big solar flare", a similar event at 13,000ly distance would have a measured effect on the ionosphere within one order of magnitude of that of a "big solar flare"; lots of beautiful aurorae, temporary ionospheric expansion, satellite disruption and/or disability, but no long-term terrestrial impact.
"The gamma rays hit the ionosphere and created more ionization, briefly expanding the ionosphere," said Neil Gehrels, lead scientist for NASA's gamma-ray watching Swift observatory.
Gehrels said in an email interview that the effect was similar to a solar-induced disruption but that the effect was "much smaller than a big solar flare."
That same article goes on to note, however, that the nearest known samples of magnetars are 4,000-5,000ly away, not 13,000 as the current article states. This disparity may reflect a change in the status of the nearer objects, or an error by either the author of this article or the individual quoted in the other. Whatever the case, at 5,000ly, which is less than 1/10th of the distance from Earth, energy from a similar event would slam into our ionosphere with over 100 times the power of the 50,000ly distant event. That might well yield some atmospheric disruption worthy of concern.
Nah...it's Bush's fault....
"Huge Quake Cracks Star"
If ya have kids tell them to say it five times real fast and see what they come up with. LOL
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.