WR
104 and Sagittarius (dhanu) :
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WR 104
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Fifteen years after its discovery, two astronomers
say earth may still lie within the sights of a potentially lethal
progenitor of a stellar gamma-ray burst (GRB).
Although
WR 104, a Wolf-Rayet star some 8000 light years distant, has thus
far remained largely quiescent, it is ripe to undergo a core-collapse
supernova of the sort that could generate a seconds-long burst
of gamma-rays that, in turn, might potentially wipe out a quarter
of earth’s protective atmospheric ozone.
“We
could see it go supernova anywhere from tomorrow to 500,000 years
from now,” said Grant Hill, an astronomer at the W.M. Keck
Observatory in Hawaii. “For all intents and purposes, the
gamma-ray burst and optical photons from the supernova would arrive
simultaneously.”
The
question of whether a GRB from WR 104 — which lies in the
direction of our Milky Way’s galactic center — would
actually cross earth’s path has been the subject of debate
for years now. But Grant says that given the continuing uncertainty
about the star’s alignment with our own, such a scenario
can’t be ruled out.
But
if such a GRB did hit earth’s atmosphere, says Adrian Melott,
a physicist at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, it would
likely cause a 50 percent increase in solar UVB radiation which
would not only disrupt photosynthesis among marine and freshwater
plankton, but also likely precipitate some sort of broader extinction
event.
“You
would first notice a 10-second blue flash in the upper atmosphere,”
said Melott, “but then the damage would be done.”
WR
104, was discovered eight years ago in the constellation Sagittarius.
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Sagittarius Constellation
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WR104
is in Sagittarius Constellation did our Rishis try to tell us
that there is going to be a huge supernova explosion coming from
Sagittarius Constellation and the gamma-ray burst is going to
come straight towards Earth?
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WR104 and Atharv Ved
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(Atharv
Ved, mantra number 3996).
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