Astronomers have photographed the faint embers of a star explosion that happened 9 billion years ago. The pic, snapped by the Hubble Telescope and published this month, is particularly significant because it helps boffins measure the rate at which the universe is expanding. This gives them a handle on understanding the …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections

This topic is closed for new posts.

Thursday 12th January 2012 10:45 GMT Ian Ferguson

Did anyone else first read the headline as 'Death Star Explosion...'?

6 0
1. Thursday 12th January 2012 12:38 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  it did happen a long long time ago
  
  in a galaxy far far away
  
  9 0
  1. This post has been deleted by its author
  2. Thursday 12th January 2012 14:55 GMT Field Marshal Von Krakenfart
    
    Hmmmpppp, That is a moon not, star death, it is.
    
    0 0
2. Thursday 12th January 2012 13:14 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  @Ian
  
  Ayups. Discovered the mishap when I saw no rings on the pictures ;-)
  
  0 0
Thursday 12th January 2012 11:06 GMT Michael H.F. Wilkinson

Awesome!!

And last year I was already happy about seeing two type Ia supernovae at 69 and 21 million light years respectively from my back garden. Granted, I only have 8 inches of aperture at my disposal, but 9 billion light years puts things into perspective.

Nuclear blast, because a supernova puts nuclear bombs into perspective.

0 0
1. Thursday 12th January 2012 12:51 GMT Anonymous Coward
  
  8 inches is more than enough for anyone!
  
  2 0
Thursday 12th January 2012 12:34 GMT Gordon 10

Typo in article

Article says explosion happened 9Bn LY's away - 1/3 the age of the universe.

Article should say 2/3rds age of universe as 9/13 ~ 2/3

0 3
1. Thursday 12th January 2012 13:02 GMT Alien8n
  
  No typo
  
  9 billion light years is the equivalent of seeing something when the universe was a third of the age it is now. If the star was 2/3 of the age of the universe then it would be approximately 3 to 4 billion light years away. Distance is inverse to age in this case.
  
  2 0
2. Thursday 12th January 2012 13:31 GMT ravenviz
  
  No, one-third is right; 9 / 13 is two-thirds since then.
  
  0 0
Thursday 12th January 2012 14:41 GMT Chris Hance

It's our sitcoms and reality shows!

Obviously "the mysterious dark energy that they posit is propelling matter outwards as a repulsive force". It's not that the universe is expanding. It's just that everything everywhere is trying to get away from us.

0 0
Thursday 12th January 2012 21:21 GMT Anonymous Coward

Outward??

Dark energy propels things outward??? With no center and no edge, there is no "outward". Perhaps these scientists were getting smaller and only thought everything was moving away.

0 0
1. Thursday 12th January 2012 23:00 GMT Sorry that handle is already taken.
  
  Or perhaps "outward" is the author's wording.
  
  0 0
2. Thursday 12th January 2012 23:49 GMT ravenviz
  
  LOL
  
  I read your post as "Perhaps these scientists were getting smellier and only thought everything was moving away" and began to come to terms with it until I read it again!
  
  1 0
Tuesday 17th January 2012 10:34 GMT Mips

Has no one queried...

...a white dwarf going supernova after a maximum of 4.45bn years. I thought they had longer lives than that.

0 0