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Star explodes halfway across the universe

Dang... and some people still believe that the universe is only ~10,000 years old :rolleyes:

That is truly amazing, it is hard to believe the universe is as massive as it is.
 
JohnNotBeatle said:
Visible to the naked eye, even.

7.5 BILLION years for the event to make itself seen to us. For those keeping score, that's 4.425x10^22 (44.25 sexillion) miles, or 7.121x10^22 km away.

The mind reels.
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Yes, but does it count if no-one actually saw it? ;)

However, NASA has no reports that any skywatchers spotted the burst, which lasted less than an hour.
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Before it exploded, the star was about 40 times bigger than our sun. The explosion vaporized any planet nearby, Gehrels said.
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Thats not a good thought.
 
How can it be "halfway" across the universe if the universe is infinitely large and has no end?
 
MacNut said:
Thats not a good thought.
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From what I've seen on TV, if we were in the direct line of one of these gmb's, it would kill most if not all life on earth in a very short time. Forget about near by planets, these things are powerful enough to kill from many, many light years away. Now that's scary.
 
c073186 said:
Oh well pardon me, I am not a scientist. That's just what they told us in elementary school ;)
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I wasn't trying to be chauvinist. Anyway think of the age of the Universe (+/-14 billion years) as a distance in light years. Therefore if you could travel, instantly, this distance you would end up at the end of the Universe, or perhaps you'd end up right back where you started (if the Universe is round like the Earth). But it's proposed the Universe is flat so you'd reach some sort of limit or something (no one really knows what's outside the Universe).
 
dukebound85 said:
well whats on the other side of the wall where it stops? nothing....like space? lol

to say that the universe is finite is like saying time is also finite and doesnt run into eternity. kinda just boggles the mind
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The idea of Infinity is something that can easily keep you awake, because can something that is infinite have a beginning? And at the moment we claim that there was a beginning to the Universe. What is outside the limit of the Universe? I dunno Vanilla Shakes?
 
Zwhaler said:
That is truly amazing, it is hard to believe the universe is as massive as it is.
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Very true. Shows the insignificance of the human race.

Loge said:
Yes, but does it count if no-one actually saw it? ;)
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:D

Jaffa Cake said:
So if a star explodes and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
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:D :D

c073186 said:
How can it be "halfway" across the universe if the universe is infinitely large and has no end?
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Interesting question.
 
There are theories that other universes (possibly with different laws of physics) are floating around, hitting into each other, creating little and big bangs all the time, some of which create new universes.
 
dukebound85 said:
well whats on the other side of the wall where it stops? nothing....like space? lol

to say that the universe is finite is like saying time is also finite and doesnt run into eternity. kinda just boggles the mind
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Okay, I'm not a cosmologist, and I don't even stay at cheap motels that allow me to fake it convincingly but the best I understand it is something like this:

Space is curved. What does this mean? Think about a sphere. When you're far enough away to look at the whole thing, it's clearly a finite three-dimensional object, but when you're really up close standing on the surface it appears you are standing on a two-dimensional plane. You can walk as far as you like on this "plane" but you'll never reach an edge, and no matter where you stand, it always looks like you're in the center of the plane because everything looks the same in every direction. Although there is no "edge" you can reach, the surface area of the sphere is finite.

The Universe exhibits this same property, but with (at least) one additional dimension. No matter where you are in the Universe, the area around you looks like a three-dimensional space, and distant space looks uniform in every direction. There isn't an edge of the Universe you can reach because you're doing the equivalent of roaming about the surface of a sphere, but nonetheless the Universe has a finite volume. Even if you could travel infinitely fast, there isn't an edge you could reach.
 
Sorry, but how can anyone state categorically that the universe is or is not finite? Being a regular on MacRumors does not empower your words nor diminish how silly you sound.
 
MacNut said:
Thats not a good thought.
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Why isn't it? Wouldn't you rather the planet die instantaneously rather than over about a month like what would happen if the sun simply turned off?

(Of course, our sun will not explode but slowly expand... engulfing the Earth but not the entire system... and then and then shrink to an incredibly small size).
 
MrSmith said:
Sorry, but how can anyone state categorically that the universe is or is not finite?
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The volume of the Universe is not the question, but rather the amount of energy in the Universe. And according the law of conservation of Energy, there is neither energy being created or destroyed. In the end the amount of expansion of the Universe may be closed (big crunch theory) or open (gravity isn't strong enough to pull it all back together).
There is a finite amount of energy in the Universe.

I think Hawking has a pretty good hold on the current status of what it all means.
http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/abhotswh.html
Scroll down to origin and fate of the universe (or do a find for the words).
 
GimmeSlack12 said:
The volume of the Universe is not the question, but rather the amount of energy in the Universe. And according the law of conservation of Energy, there is neither energy being created or destroyed. In the end the amount of expansion of the Universe may be closed (big crunch theory) or open (gravity isn't strong enough to pull it all back together).
There is a finite amount of energy in the Universe.

I think Hawking has a pretty good hold on the current status of what it all means.
http://www.generationterrorists.com/quotes/abhotswh.html
Scroll down to origin and fate of the universe (or do a find for the words).
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finite enrergy and mass but what about empty space?
 
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