(click on image to enlarge)
From NASA/ ESA, December 4, 2017: Don’t be fooled! The subject of this Picture of the Week, ESO 580-49, may seem tranquil and unassuming, but this spiral galaxy actually displays some explosive tendencies.
In October of 2011, a cataclysmic burst of high-energy gamma-ray radiation — known as a gamma-ray burst, or GRB — was detected coming from the region of sky containing ESO 580-49. Astronomers believe that the galaxy was the host of the GRB, given that the chance of a coincidental alignment between the two is roughly 1 in 10 million. At a distance of around 185 million light-years from Earth, it was the second-closest gamma-ray burst (GRB) ever detected.
Gamma-ray bursts are among the brightest events in the cosmos, occasionally outshining the combined gamma-ray output of the entire observable Universe for a few seconds. The exact cause of the GRB that probably occurred within this galaxy, catalogued as GRB 111005A, remains a mystery. Several events are known to lead to GRBs, but none of these explanations appear to fit the bill in this case. Astronomers have therefore suggested that ESO 580-49 hosted a new type of GRB explosion — one that has not yet been characterised.
Credit: ESA/Hubble & NASA
Keep in mind, the galaxy in this photo is 190 million light years away. One light year is roughly 6 trillion miles. Think about that.
3 comments:
The exact cause of the GRB that probably occurred within this galaxy, catalogued as GRB 111005A, remains a mystery.
The final act of a genocidal war, perhaps? One that ended 185 million years ago. A superweapon built as a deterrent that some crazed leader actually used?
Again, there are probably things out there that we're better off not knowing about in detail.
We love Monday, don't we, W! Thanks again.
Infidel: right -- a foreshadowing of our own fate, perhaps?
Diva - always welcome!
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