Astronomers Spot Biggest Supernova Ever

Scientists Wonder About Prospects For More Celestial Fireworks Closer To Earth

(AP)  A massive exploding faraway star, the brightest supernova astronomers have ever seen, has scientists wondering whether a similar celestial fireworks show may light up the sky much closer to Earth sometime soon.

The discovery, announced Monday by NASA, drew oohs and aahs for months from the handful of astronomers who peered through telescopes to see the fuzzy remnants of the spectacular explosion after it was first spotted last fall.

Using a variety of Earth and space telescopes, astronomers found a giant exploding star that they figure has shined about five times brighter than any of the hundreds of supernovae ever seen before, said discovery team leader Nathan Smith of the University of California at Berkeley. The discovery was first made last September by a graduate student in Texas.

"This one is way above anything else," Smith told The Associated Press. "It's really astonishing."

Smith said the star, SN2006gy, "is a special kind of supernova that has never been seen before." He called the star "freakily massive" — 150 times the mass of the sun.

Observations from the Chandra X-ray telescope helped show that it didn't become a black hole like other supernovae and skipped a stage of star death.

Unlike other exploding stars, which peak at brightness for a couple of weeks at most, this supernova peaked for 70 days, according to NASA. And it has been shining at levels brighter than other supernovae for several months, Smith said.

And even at 240 million light years away, this star in a distant galaxy does suggest that a similar and relatively nearby star — one 44 quadrillion miles away — might blow in similar fashion any day now or 50,000 years from now, Smith said. It wouldn't threaten Earth, but it would be so bright that people could read by it at night, said University of California at Berkeley astronomer David Pooley. However, it would only be visible to people in the Southern Hemisphere, he said

[antoniof123]

You know I come to this area of the site to get away from you wing nuts and yet you still follow and just keep spewing your hate. This is a beautiful thing why don't you just enjoy it and read the story and say some nice things.

[hockeymanvt]

Something on this grand a scale should take the self-aggrandizing and proselytizing starch out of all of us.

[mikealford3]

For those who subscribe to the "Big Bang Theory" perhaps this could explain the begining of our solar system. As much as I disagree with some of the U.S.'s spending in space, this is a cool discovery. I just can't help but think though, if the particles or whatever are traveling at the speed of light, just came into view and are 240 million light years away, this star exploded millions of years ago and will be millions more years before we actually see the end result.

[apaniolasoul]

I myself believe that things like this are beautiful...the imagery that it presents is such that I myself would want to be here in 50,000 years to be able to read at night and bask in it's beauty...although who knows what condition our earth will be in at that particular time....or even if we~it would even be here at all...

[rf35]

How wonderful to find other moderates on this board! It seems everyone lately is polarized all the way emocrat or Republican, Left or Right with no room in the middle. Nice to see I'm not the only one.

When one looks at something like this, the whole "yea for my side" stuff kind of looks small and petty. And ya know what? It is.

[minminmin-2009]

Thanks you, flreason. Is there no one in the middle any more? It's you and me, babe.

"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right...stuck in the middle with you"

I've come to the conclusion that some people just have a lot of hate they feel compelled to spew. Their religious or political affiliation is probably more arbitrary than they know. It's just a hate delivery system.

[flreason]

p.s. Looks like the ultimate smoke ring!!! LOL

[flreason]

singinrick et al--Thanks for your positive comments. It's not just the left that pollutes with their hate. There are intolerant, hateful people to be found in every group. Those of us that can see all of the spectrum--not just black and white--need to speak up positively instead of allowing these small minds to dominate the talk and dictate the action. Speaking of singing, Rick, did you see the article on Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland? Another wonder...the ingenuity of the human brain--past and present. If we look for beauty and wonder, it's all around us. Now if we could only transplant that into the hateful world of politics and religion.......

[e7eryday]

*wonder, not wodner ;)haha

[e7eryday]

Ummm- WOW. ***'s with some of you people? You can't even enjoy the beauty of nature- its no wodner you can't find the beauty in yourselves.

"Why won't you ever be glad- it melts into wonder..." ~David J. Matthews

[macusweil]

huanaco serves on the Kansas school board with billybob

with intelect as such we will all soon rot in poverty as the rest of the world passes the US in all aspects

[bobnjersey]

[NASA. A waste of money. This is nothing but usual scientist "what if" bs.]

not really ... the answer to these types of questions speak to the most fundamental questions about life, existance, and how it all came to be.

for some ... and not just physicists ... this is just a bit beyond 'what if bs'.

may i recommend 'The Dancing Wu Li Masters' by gary zukav.

[macusweil]

billysmith6 is an ignorant NED probably member from the Kansas school board... lol

[rafterman1]

===There is so much hate from the far-left on these boards===

And the far-right too. Isn't that right singinrick? You got any more "kill all Muslims" posts you want to unload on us like you've been doing the last few months?

[rafterman1]

===BIG DEAL ASTRONOMERS ! KEEP PLAYIMG WITH YOUR TOYS . IS THIS WONDERFUL NEWS GOING TO BRING MORE GOOD FOR MANKIND ? I GUESS NOT. FROM TIME TO TIME ALL OF YOU ARE TRYING TO JUSTIFY YOUR EXPENSIVE HOBBY.===

The drive to explore is part of human nature. It's in our genes. Well, most of us anyways.

[flreason]

What's with you guys?! Drop the politics, for once, and appreciate something that is bigger and more beautiful than all the self-important buggers on this little planet. What's good for mankind is to stop thinking of themselves as the center of the universe. An occasional break to oooh and aaah at the celestial fireworks is a good thing.

[huanaco]

BIG DEAL ASTRONOMERS ! KEEP PLAYIMG WITH YOUR TOYS . IS THIS WONDERFUL NEWS GOING TO BRING MORE GOOD FOR MANKIND ? I GUESS NOT. FROM TIME TO TIME ALL OF YOU ARE TRYING TO JUSTIFY YOUR EXPENSIVE HOBBY.

[firststate]

The bushies are the only ones who would think that their hero could accomplish anything so spectacular, at least intentionally. At least they didn't say that Iran did it with a shaped projectile.

[bobnjersey]

[I know what we can do,Let's blame it on Bush.]

this one is clearly clinton's fault ... but when gwb was told about the star exploding during his watch he said: "... it was all completely legal!"

[mdk2dude]

I know what we can do,Let's blame it on Bush. He has done everything else so why not blame him for allowing this to happen and putting the planet Earth in jeopardy from another star. That is just as real as the other gibberish I read in these columns.