NASA 'scope captures ferocious gamma ray burst

NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope's has captured a hi-res image of a gamma-ray burst boasting "the greatest total energy, the fastest motions and the highest-energy initial emissions ever seen". The explosion, known to its chums as GRB 080916C, was detected on 15 September last year in the constellation Carina at a …

[Anonymous Coward]

Kaboom

A bad day if you happened to be living next to it, I suppose.

[Lionel Baden]

hmm aliens still warring

better dig a bunker

alien - yeah well kinda obvious

[Martin Lyne]

RE: Kaboom

.. Or wherever the jets are dispersing towards.. if we see one pointed at us.. well the light will arrive with the other radiation, so hopefully we won't all be baked potatoes.

As far as I understand planet-sterilizing things, anyway :)

[Francois]

They should have listened...

Before starting that big accelerator of theirs.... luckily, on this planet, we know better

[Edward Miles]

@hmm aliens still warring

Naaah. It's been 12 Billion Years since this happened, Hopefully they've made peace in that time!

[Red Bren]

When LHCs go bad?

That is all.

[ben]

Action film

Just needs John McLain flying out of the explosion totally unscathed with a bit of dirt on his vest. "Yippiekayay Muddyfunsters!"

[Yorkshirepudding]

Q?

maybe the Q continuum is having a pre friday night scrap?

[Anonymous Coward]

When was that?

"The explosion, known to its chums as GRB 080916C, occurred on 15 September in the constellation Carina at a distance of 12.2 billion light-years from Earth."

So was that 15th September 12,199,997,991 BC?

[Kevin Campbell]

Big Bang 1.1?

If this was 12.2 billion light years distant, then this happened roughly 1 billion years after Big Bang 1.0? Might this have been God's after-dinner belch?

I mean, assuming this is in the right direction, couldn't this have been a follow up Bangette?

(Mods, we need a an icon for "clueless git" or somesuch. Essentially, the antithesis of the egghead)

[Brian O'Byrne]

Batten down the hatches

18 billion light-years away, and stuff moving at no less than .999999c, so I guess that means we should start feeling the particle flux in about 18,000 years.

[Robert Ramsay]

@Kaboom

more like a bad 1/8th of a second.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diaspora_(novel)

[Paris Hilton]

Correction...

'The explosion, known to its chums as GRB 080916C, occurred on 15 September in the constellation Carina at a distance of 12.2 billion light-years from Earth'

Becomes:

'The explosion, known to its chums as GRB 080916C, was detected on 15 September in the constellation Carina at a distance of 12.2 billion light-years from Earth'

(even I know it occured 12.2 Billion Years ago)

[MnM]

@Brian O'Byrne

An awesome analysis all round there old boy. Any thoughts on the economy or Jade Goody?

I think you may be joking but just in case, I'm replacing your geek squad icon with something more appropriate. It's harsh, but fair.

[Anonymous Coward]

@Kevin

I thought that was the Paris icon ;)

[Luther Blissett]

Mach Almost-Infinity - the closest shave you will ever get

> 99.9999 per cent of the speed of light

That was a close encounter with c, wasn't it? Any quicker, and it would have falsified the Theory of Relativity.

[Anonymous Coward]

Fools!

It was just Jehova trying to fool us again! Everyone knows that He made the universe 6,000 years ago.

Paris - Jehova made her, too, just to prove that He is a Kind and Merciful God.

[Anonymous Coward]

Glad to see my computers are working

Hi, I build/sold the computer ground station for this telescope.... Glad to see they are working! I kid you not, but I must remain anonymous.

[THOMAS STEWART VON DRASHEK]

Are We Missing 12.2 billion light years?

since event was 12.2 billion light years away & estimated to to equal outflow, isn't there place in opposite direction 12.2 billion light years from event just recieveing gama rays? or that Universe is at least 24.4 billion light years in /Diameter.

Signed:PHYSICIAN THOMAS STEWART von DRASHEK M.D.