Supernova

Largest supernova ever

Used with permission, thanks, olivia.

There was news last week of a gigantic exploding star - the brightest supernova ever seen. Fortunately for us, it's 240 million light-years away. NPR's Scott Simon today mused about why he hadn't noticed "the largest and brightest explosion ever in the universe."

[U of C astronomer Nathan] Smith said the star, SN2006gy, "is a special kind of supernova that has never been seen before." He called the star "freakily massive" at 150 times the mass of the sun.

[Emphasis mine.]

The discovery was first made last September by a graduate student in Texas.

That's the really cool part. Astronomy need observations. Obviously, they can't quite do controlled experiments. While the cutting edge is happening with the expensive high-tech arrays and orbiters like Hubble, there remains a place for amateurs and grad students doing yeoman work, gathering information about things like asteroids and oddball stars like this one.

Via Sci-Tech Today, from the Accosciated Press.

Now, for the bossa nova, here's Astrud Gilberto and Stan Getz, and maybe Gary Burton on vibes.

The Girl From Ipanema.
About three.

[Update: Corrected "milion miles" to "million light-years."

How embarrassing. I not only misspelled "million" but bollixed up my units by a literally astronomical magnitude.
]

[Another update: fixed the video embed.]