Isn’t it also possible that gravitational/atmospheric/other lensing caused either the disappearance or brightening of that star? I’m not sure what’s most likely, but I know other bright objects have appeared and disappeared due to effects other than supernovae.Â
Any astronomers in here to weigh in on what’s most likely happening here?
mr-optomist on
Kind of gnarly that a star’s ‘death’ makes it way brighter.
greywar777 on
Thats a incredible amount of energy being put out there. Thats another GALAXY.
IzmirEgale on
 **I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.**
magus_vk on
OP – Thanks for sharing. What’s the time lapse between the two pictures?
Nw5gooner on
I love things like this. Everything you see in space can sometimes seem so fixed and unchanging, and then things happen that remind you that we’re watching a live view of the universe, with an immense range of time delays.
This event might have been anticipated and watched in awe by some intelligent species at a safe distance, in that very galaxy 20 million years ago, right about when our earliest ancestors were branching out from the evolutionary tree.
That very supernova might have wiped all record of some more ancient civilisation from the universe. Others, in other galaxies at varying distances might have recorded it in the time in between. Millions of years in the future, long after we’re gone, some other distant civilisation may spot it anew.
The vastness of the universe acts as a kind of temporal record book. Wherever life evolves to look far enough and with enough clarity, its ancient secrets are just waiting to be witnessed.
Wedoitforthenut on
It kinda looks like it happens in that dark zone, and its as bright as the center of the galaxy. I wonder if that is a black hole that shredded a star or a star going supernova.
Try-Imaginary on
Nice work, sir. Extra chars here so i can post
bedtime_chubby on
Man… the scale here is just insane. We are tiny. Great post.
9 Comments
Isn’t it also possible that gravitational/atmospheric/other lensing caused either the disappearance or brightening of that star? I’m not sure what’s most likely, but I know other bright objects have appeared and disappeared due to effects other than supernovae.Â
Any astronomers in here to weigh in on what’s most likely happening here?
Kind of gnarly that a star’s ‘death’ makes it way brighter.
Thats a incredible amount of energy being put out there. Thats another GALAXY.
 **I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.**
OP – Thanks for sharing. What’s the time lapse between the two pictures?
I love things like this. Everything you see in space can sometimes seem so fixed and unchanging, and then things happen that remind you that we’re watching a live view of the universe, with an immense range of time delays.
This event might have been anticipated and watched in awe by some intelligent species at a safe distance, in that very galaxy 20 million years ago, right about when our earliest ancestors were branching out from the evolutionary tree.
That very supernova might have wiped all record of some more ancient civilisation from the universe. Others, in other galaxies at varying distances might have recorded it in the time in between. Millions of years in the future, long after we’re gone, some other distant civilisation may spot it anew.
The vastness of the universe acts as a kind of temporal record book. Wherever life evolves to look far enough and with enough clarity, its ancient secrets are just waiting to be witnessed.
It kinda looks like it happens in that dark zone, and its as bright as the center of the galaxy. I wonder if that is a black hole that shredded a star or a star going supernova.
Nice work, sir. Extra chars here so i can post
Man… the scale here is just insane. We are tiny. Great post.