Posted on 01/11/2007 12:01:11 AM PST by Dallas59
The famous "pillars of creation" – clouds of dust and gas imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope, are no more – a supernova blast wave has blown them apart. But their ghostly image will linger for another thousand years because of the time it takes for light to travel from them to Earth.
The pillars have been astronomical icons since Hubble imaged them in 1995 (scroll down for Hubble image). They are part of a larger star-forming region called the Eagle Nebula, which lies 7000 light years away. That means we are seeing the pillars as they were 7000 years ago, when the light first left them.
Now, an infrared image from the Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed a previously unseen supernova blast wave that was advancing towards the pillars at that time, threatening to ultimately sweep them away. In tatters
Nicolas Flagey of the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale in Orsay, France, led a team that obtained the image. It shows a cloud of hot dust thought to have been heated by a supernova blast that likely occurred between 1000 and 2000 years earlier.
Based on the cloud's position, the blast wave looked set to hit the pillars in 1000 years. Taking into account the 7000-year time lag for their light to reach the Earth, that means the pillars were actually destroyed 6000 years ago, Flagey says.
We will not see their obliteration from Earth for another 1000 years, however. And when we do, they will be in tatters – Flagey says only a few patches of the pillars are dense enough to survive the blast. "All the other parts will crumble when the shock wave arrives," he says.
Now, his team is searching through historical records to see if ancient astronomers spotted the supernova responsible for the pillars' destruction.....
(Excerpt) Read more at space.newscientist.com ...
my new desktop background.
Wow.
unbelievable.
What's with the "we" stuff? I certainly don't know of anyone who will be around then.
Here's a link to a high-res version (180.6 kB):
http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/1995/44/images/a/formats/full_jpg.jpg
Bush's fault.
Both the clouds and the supernova are truly amazing phenomena. The Lord has certainly produced some fantastic sights in deep space.
> What's with the "we" stuff? I certainly don't know of anyone who will be around then.
Hey! Speak for youself!!!
Global Warming.
An effective blast radius of 1000 to 2000 light years?
Sorry, I find that hard to believe. Not that I'm doubting the professionals, just hard to believe.
Anybody here able to figure out how many atomic particles will hit a square meter at that distance?
SURF'S UP!!!!
"A thousand years from now the shock wave will be here?"
I think they mean 1000 years from now we will be able to see it, the light from the event will be here.
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