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Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

phys.org

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Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#41

Post by ljf »

FrameworkFred wrote: post #35

Given that we're able to aim telescopes at things that are billions of light years away, I wonder how close we are to being able to see the reflection of such a thing when it actually happens on some celestial body 3.5 million light years away.

I remember as a child thinking I had fixed time travel (in a very limited sense) when I wondered why we didn't just stick a bunch of mirrors far far away, and then aim them back at the earth and use telescopes to look back at the dinosaurs etc.

While that wouldn't work for heaps of reasons, I like your idea. I guess the issue would be discerning 'when' such a thing happened, and finding the right item to look back at, which would be a difficult challenge...

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#42

Post by ekianjo »

facethrowaway wrote: post #36

I am guessing this would lead to solar system-scale destruction? Putting a base on Mars doesn’t seem like it would do much to counter such an event if it headed our way?

A Mars base would do a lot to prevent extinction of human life because of an "unlikely" but "it's just a matter of when, not if" situation where we get hit by a massive rock.

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#43

Post by johnisgood »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #18
hanoz wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's very nearly 3.5 days in terms of a middle aged person's lifetime, which is an interesting rule of thumb I think I've just discovered.

so ... wild guess 37 years * 365 days = 13,500 days universe has existed for 13.5 billion years So each day in a middle aged life is 1 million of the universe's years. I like it ! :-) * This flare: Last Friday * Dinosaur extinction: 3rd of August * Pangea breaks apart: about Valentines day * Earth formed: June 2007 * Universe Born: 1982 Of course this means the Universe would have listened to Flock Of Seagulls as a k…

Knight Rider! Oh my sweet childhood. :D

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#44

Post by snowwrestler »

jp555 wrote: post #38
michannne wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My opinion is that the idea of a base on Mars is not to somehow secure humanity's position in the Solar System, but to give us something to aim for so we have a reason to pump money into space exploration and aerospace research

Don't you think two self-sufficient instances of a civilization separated by a ~dozen light-minutes decreases the risk of species extinction events?

I find it very hard to imagine a human civilization on Mars being self-sufficient. Getting there is not the hard part. The ecology of self-sufficiency is not something we understand currently, even on Earth.

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#45

Post by hoorayimhelping »

facethrowaway wrote: post #36

I am guessing this would lead to solar system-scale destruction? Putting a base on Mars doesn’t seem like it would do much to counter such an event if it headed our way?

From my understanding, something that can wipe out the entire solar system at once is highly unlikely.

Huge bursts of concentrated energy coming out of black holes are usually tight beams of high energy particles and light (x-rays, gamma rays) moving very fast and aligned with the object's poles. The focused beam of energy is what is deadly to life. If it's not tight and focused and moving fast, the energy dissipates out into space.

The solar system is huge and extends in three dimensions. A burst of energy that hit earth directly could miss Mars (or the moon, or the space around the earth and the moon) entirely. To sterilize a specific planet, the event has to be close (within like 10,000 light years I seem to remember reading) and the poles of the object undergoing the event have to be pointing at the planet.

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#46

Post by 725686 »

ifdefdebug wrote: post #14
rbanffy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In cosmological terms, it's more like "earlier today". Our ancestors were already walking around, talking to black monoliths and crushing skulls by then.

I hate that movie.

Forget the movie. I didn't like it either. Read the book. It's fantastic.

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#47

Post by iamgopal »

FrameworkFred wrote: post #35

Given that we're able to aim telescopes at things that are billions of light years away, I wonder how close we are to being able to see the reflection of such a thing when it actually happens on some celestial body 3.5 million light years away.

Bit turnoff is, we couldn't even take photograph of human size on moon, things far away are mind blowing huge. Every data is blurred out.

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#48

Post by michannne »

jp555 wrote: post #38
michannne wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My opinion is that the idea of a base on Mars is not to somehow secure humanity's position in the Solar System, but to give us something to aim for so we have a reason to pump money into space exploration and aerospace research

Don't you think two self-sufficient instances of a civilization separated by a ~dozen light-minutes decreases the risk of species extinction events?

I don't think a civilization anywhere other than Earth will be able to outlast any Earth catastrophe until we develop much, much more sophisticated types of technology, so it's all moot

Re: Not long ago, the center of the Milky Way exploded

#49

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

snowwrestler wrote: post #44
jp555 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't you think two self-sufficient instances of a civilization separated by a ~dozen light-minutes decreases the risk of species extinction events?

I find it very hard to imagine a human civilization on Mars being self-sufficient. Getting there is not the hard part. The ecology of self-sufficiency is not something we understand currently, even on Earth.

Indeed. If we were serious about colonizing mars we should first colonize portions of the earth that are currently uninhabitable (self-sufficiently). They all are much easier to get to and have significantly more favorable conditions than Mars, but for some reason no one tries to make the Arctic self-sustaining or wants to build a deep ocean colony.
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