Re: "Gamma Rays of Doom"

["Fritz A. Seiler" <faseiler@nmia.com>]

I have read several contributions to Doug's post and it seems to me that
something is still missing.  Why are the astronomers so excited?  Because they
know the gamma flux here on earth, they have also got evidence in the visible
part of the spectrum, courtesy of Hubble and the 10m Keck telescope, and from
the latter they have an infrared spectrum of the event in last December with a
Lyman-alpha redshift of 3.4, or  a distance of 10 billion lightyears.  That is
why they know the gamma source strength of about 1E46 Joules.  To give an idea
of the energy: 1 solar mass = 2E30 kg, c = 3E8 m/s, energy equivalent mc**2 =
1.8E47 Joules.  Thus just the gamma source strength corresponds to about 0.05
solar masses anihilated!  Quite a bang, and only to be viewed from a safe
distance! Say 10 billion lightyears.


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Fritz A. Seiler, Ph.D.
Principal
Sigma Five Associates
P.O. Box 14006
Albuquerque, NM 87191-4006
Tel.      505-323-7848
Fax.     505-293-3911
e-mail:  faseiler@nmia.com

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