That Blowed Up Real Nice
The universe is very large and contains many things. Some of these things explode spectacularly. Some things explode with such violence that they can be seen billions of light years away, making supernovae look like mere fireworks. Even the sun periodically seethes with violence. The good news is that all of these huge explosions are far enough away to keep us safe. All, that is, except for Eta Carinae, which could someday fry us like bugs.
Very informative post. I already linked to this once from triko's space weather post, but here is a picture of a solar prominence with size related to the earth. That's one hell of a prominence, IMO. That second Eta Carinae link suggests that its supernovization (sic) probably wouldn't harm life on earth, but it would provide "quite a show", so I guess there is some debate about that. I'm all for not being here when we find out who is right about that. Again, fantastic links.
As for the Illinois meteor: chicken little was right!
Posted by:
samuelad on March 28, 2003 01:15 AM
We should've paid attention to the warning shot: Peekskill 1992. First it was the cars, now the houses.
Actually, the first warning shot was the Barringer Meteorite. Nobody was around to see it.
Posted by:
samuelad on March 28, 2003 01:32 AM
The andromeda galaxy may will also cause us problems on a galactic scale. Who knows where we'll be in three billion years, but I'm sure it will be quite a show when a whole galaxy falls on our heads. Tune in if you want to learn more.
Posted by:
jimoto on March 28, 2003 08:53 AM
){kind=link}
Here's a brief HTML Primer