Destroyer of worlds: Astronomers overlaid 11 time lapse images of the rotating star system WR 104 to reveal a 30 billion-kilometre-long tail that billows out in a spiral around it.
Credit: University of Sydney
SYDNEY: A spectacular, rotating binary star system is a ticking time bomb, ready to throw out a searing beam of high-energy gamma rays – and Earth may be right in the line of fire.
Astronomers at the University of Sydney, in Australia, first discovered the unusual and beguilingly beautiful star system eight years ago in the Constellation Sagittarius. One member of the pair is a highly unstable star known as a Wolf-Rayet, thought to be the final stage of stellar evolution to precede a cataclysmic supernova explosion.
"When it finally explodes as a supernova, it could emit an intense beam of gamma rays coming our way", said Peter Tuthill, lead researcher of the team that report their findings in the current Astrophysical Journal.
Vast and glowing plume
At a distance of 8,000 light-years from Earth, the pair of stars are a short hop away in galactic terms, and just one quarter of the way to the centre of our Milky Way galaxy.
The researchers took images of the system, known as WR 104, over a period of eight years using Hawaii's Keck Telescope. These images reveal a vast and glowing plume of heated dust and gas, billowing out in a spiral as the stars rotate once every eight months. This 'tail' is up to 30 billion kilometres long.
But something curious about the images caught the attention of the experts.
"Viewed from Earth, the rotating tail appears to be laid out on the sky in an almost perfect spiral. It could only appear like that if we are looking nearly exactly down on the axis of the binary system," said Tuthill.
This means we are peering down the barrel of the gun, as when binary supernovae go off, all their energy is focussed into a narrow beam of wildly destructive gamma ray radiation that emanates (both up and down) from the poles of the system.
"If such a gamma-ray burst happens, we really do not want Earth to be in the way," he said. "I used to appreciate this spiral just for its beautiful form, but now I can't help a twinge of feeling that it is uncannily like looking down a rifle barrel."
Oh noes!
Do you think they'll still make Duct tape in 100,000 years? I need to know how to stock my gamma ray burst shelter.
Ceiling Cat luvz duck tape!
Iff yoo sacrifise a big bal uv duck tape to Ceiling Cat, hee wil bat it bak 3-fold unto yoo wen teh end comz in 100,000 yeerz!
Seriously, very cool site... just passing thru and couldn't resist... Meow Ciao!
Frrrrrrrrrrrrrrrunnkiiiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rrrrrrrrrrrraaaaammmmmmmmmmmooooonnnnnneeeeee!!!!!!!!!
Take us ooouuut of the line of firrrrrre of this nasssstttttty binary starrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Incredible Hulk(s)?
"ready to throw out a searing beam of high-energy gamma rays – and Earth may be right in the line of fire."
Uhuuuu, we'll be all turned into HULKS!!!!!
Binary Deathstar
"We have sent the terrorists of the Binary Deathstar an ultimatum which will be followed by deadly force."
George W.
SWEET! We turn into Hulks
SWEET! We turn into Hulks and can take over the galaxy billions strong!
Seriously though. If the human species doesn't destroy itself, I'm certain it won't matter much if we discover thousands of years in the future, or next week, if these gamma rays are actually going to hit us. Then again, the binary system would have to have already shot them off for anyone to worry.
In any case, if it hasn't shot them off in the past 7900-7920 years, chances are we'll all be dead and gone by the time it hits.... if it does indeed hit.
As to the Christian inquiries here. According to the lore of Christianity, the heavens and earth only existed for somewhere around 6000 years. How can a binary star have already shot off its gamma rays at us before the beginning of time, when it's clearly stated that in the beginning there was nothing? Good question to ponder on. :)
Haha
I love that last part about the christians!! haha!!! No point in even writing it though, since they ignore everything that doesn't fit with their very narrow view of existence.
Unless, of course...
"...we probably still have hundreds of thousands of years to come up with a solution..."
Unless, of course, the rotating binary system emitted an intense gamma ray burst 7,999 years ago...
All these arguments are
All these arguments are academic anyway - by that time, the idiotic human race will have done the job itself.
Interstellar gas to the rescue
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2007/gammaburst_challenge.html
"When GRB jets slam into nearby interstellar gas, the resulting collision generates an intense afterglow that can radiate brightly in X-rays and other wavelengths for several weeks. "
This should block the direct impact.