Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

This article is a bit ambiguous as to the image shown, until it finally identifies it as a Wolf-Rayet star.

Gamma-ray bursts are one of the universe's most intriguing and energetic events. The very first link in the article (marked "gamma ray burst") will describe these mysterious events insofar as we understand them.

I highly recommend the Imagine the Universe NASA website to adults and teens for its fascinating topics. Even those who know little of astronomy will enjoy the site.

If you have grade-school-age children, there is a NASA site for them too. It's called StarChild.

You may wonder why I'm recommending these sites. I don't work for NASA. I was doing some research for a detail for APOD recently and came across several astronomy-subject websites which were full of bad information; outdated, erroneous, misconceived, you name it. One site even named Titan as a moon of Jupiter!

Wolf-Rayet stars are bright, hot, luminous, and rare. Only about 200 are known to exist in the Milky Way. The brightest one is Gamma Velorum, magnitude 1.74. It is the only prominent one; all others are fainter than magnitude 5. It's fairly nearby at approximately 840 light years. It's too far south to see from most of the Northern Hemisphere.

A most peculiar Wolf-Rayet star


1 posted on 03/24/2003 10:23:19 PM PST by petuniasevan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies ]


To: MozartLover; Joan912; NovemberCharlie; snowfox; Dawgsquat; viligantcitizen; theDentist; ...

2 posted on 03/24/2003 10:24:32 PM PST by petuniasevan (POWS: Justice will be served. In this life or the next.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: petuniasevan
WOW WOW !!! Amazing.
3 posted on 03/24/2003 10:34:06 PM PST by Soaring Feather
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: petuniasevan
Thank you so much :-)
4 posted on 03/24/2003 11:59:37 PM PST by RadioAstronomer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

To: petuniasevan
Phew! Glad I don't live in that neighborhood! Amazing!
6 posted on 03/25/2003 4:43:03 AM PST by GodBlessRonaldReagan (where is Count Petofi when we need him most?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson