Posted on 01/09/2007 11:08:53 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
SEATTLE – They helped open the public's eyes to the wonders of space when they were first photographed in 1995, but a new study suggests the famous Pillars of Creation in the Eagle Nebula might have already been toppled long ago, and that what the Hubble Space Telescope actually captured was their ghost image.
A new picture of the Eagle Nebula shot by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope show the intact pillars next to a giant cloud of glowing dust scorched by the heat of a massive stellar explosion known as a supernova [image].
Astronomers think the supernova's shock wave knocked the pillars down about 6,000 years ago. But because light from that region of the sky takes 7,000 years to reach us, the majestic pillars will appear intact to observers on Earth for another 1,000 years or so.
The supernova blast is thought to have occurred between 6,000 and 9,000 years ago, so what astronomers see now is evidence of the blast just before its destructive shock wave reached the pillars.
Astronomers have long predicted that a supernova blast wave would destroy the famous pillars. One earlier study concluded that the pillars would be destroyed sometime within the next million years. About 20 stars in the region are ripe for exploding and it was only a matter of time before one exploded.
The new Spitzer image suggests one of the stellar time bombs has already detonate. Humans living 1,000 to 2,000 years ago might have noticed the supernova event that destroyed the pillars as an unusually bright star in the sky.
In an end befitting their name, however, astronomers think that gas and dust from the pillar's destruction will help give birth to a new generation of stars.
The study, led by Nicolas Flagey of The Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in France, was presented here today at the 209th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
Editor's Note: All week, SPACE.com is providing complete coverage of the 209th meeting of the American Astronomical Society.
>>Humans living 1,000 to 2,000 years ago might have noticed the supernova event that destroyed the pillars as an unusually bright star in the sky. <<
Hmmm. Anybody remember anything about a star and three smart guys about 2000 years ago?
Thanks. So my plans to "shock and awe" the galactic councils are still possible.
I wanna know what the President knew, and when he knew it.
Impeachment!
If you think that is funky, Hubble *saw* back, what, 13 billion years? Our part of the universe is only ~5 billion years old. So, anybody in that 13 billion portion has got a ways to wait before they can even *see* us.
Good one!
I dont think a shock wave is an issue here, in the conventional sense. That is, the expanding pressure wave and that flows out after an explosion. Given space is a vacuum and all that. However, some nasty radiation (cosmic rays) and electromagnetic mess would be a concern. But that does indeed travel at the speed of light. I think the armegeddon scenario is that the magnetoshpere gets blown away or disrupted by the elemstromagnetic pulse and then the cosmic rays flow in and cook us all. Pretty much at the same time as we notice the star explode via visible light.
But I think it's been established that there are no stars nearby that are anywhere near supernova state, and we'll have millions of years before that is ever a concern.
It is. It doesn't matter if space is a vacuum. Pressure waves consist of the original momentum itself moving through whatever. THe momentum in this case is carried by the exploding mass.
We could say it. But athiests would deny the connection.LOL!
On the surface this is very interesting. The problems is it leaves a very profound yet perplexing question.
What would be a cooler sounding name for a rock band - "Pillars of Creation" or "Stellar Blast?"
"Those aren't pillars!!!"
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...
/polite golf clap.
LOL! "Did you catch the Bears last weekend?" "Yep, hell of a game, hell of a game!"
The Shock wave consists of the paticles that carry the momentum. In this case, there's just no dissipation to the surroundings, until something is hit.
"I mean, we all know that in space no one can hear you scream."
That's not true if one has there ear oriented to catch the scream, or the scream is deflected in. That would be the person's last breath though and any listener would probably get a blood splatter and hear a pop at the end of the quickly truncated scream.
Yes.
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