Destination: Supernova
Tired of vacationing in the solar system? Searching for a more far flung holiday hotspot? How about a supernova? Chris Billings tries tourism on the edge.
Fascination with supernovas is deep rooted in ancient cultures and fuelled today by awesome images beamed back from space. If within our galaxy, a supernova may temporarily become the brightest object in the sky other than the Sun and Moon.
Deciding which supernova to visit won't be too much of a problem, since these events only happen on average about two per century, per galaxy. You'll need to choose a supernova within our galaxy, as close to earth as possible, and remember to pack lightly. And beware: if you're not prepared to be vaporized, you may want to consider a different destination.
Several types and sub-types exist, but the most impressive is the Type II supernova, which is formed when the nuclear fuel of a massive star is exhausted. The core rapidly collapses, then rebounds catastrophically, creating a black hole or neutron star, and also a giant, expanding gas cloud.Preparing to leave
Be aware that there are a few obstacles you'll need negotiate when preparing for your trip:
1. LIFE SPAN - Even if you eat an apple a day and practice caloric restriction, your life-span is unlikely to be long enough. So the first obstacle is progress in cryogenics. Hopefully, you won't look like the female space traveller in Planet of the Apes when you finally make it to your destination.
2. TRAVEL SPEED - Your interstellar travel agent is not going to be able to offer you a non-stop flight. Travelling at current top speeds of around 20,000mph, it would take 137,000 years just to reach our closest star system, which is unlikely to host a supernova event any time soon.
3. ADVANCE WARNING - Our last local supernova was in 1604. It occurred 20,000 light years from Earth, which means it happened 20,000 years before it was observed by humans – roughly 18396 BC. Ideally then, you’ll need a travel agent with a time machine.
What Happens When You Get There
If your travel agent did their job well, the computer awakens you from your cryogenic state just in time for the finale. If not, it’s way too late to ask for a refund. As the core collapses, gamma ray bursts emit high energy neutrinos, sterilising you and your fellow passengers. The energy produced can be as much as our sun would emit in 10 billion years, over just a few weeks. As the explosion disperses, the star's matter reaches velocities of up to 1/10th of the speed of light. And for 200 years, the free expansion phase will pulverize and carry with it any existing interstellar medium, including you and your spacecraft. The fun filled shock wave will eventually slow down over a period of about 10,000 years.
You may not find your supernova experience particularly enjoyable. If, however, you could continue watching, you'd see new stars and planets forming, maybe even life itself beginning (that’s assuming you’re immortal as well as indestructible). Eventually, if a supernova enriched planet with the right mass was orbiting in a habitable zone, and had the right combination of elements, maybe life would arise. All known life consists in part of the heavy elements produced in stars. Supernovae not only produce these essential elements, they do a great job of distributing them (and any space junk) through the vast regions between stars.
"It was Carl Sagan that said we are Star-Stuff, but there is a more poetic and more accurate way to say it. It is quite literally true that we are Star-Dust. In the highest exalted way one can use that phrase." - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Want more super holiday ideas? Try another Destination Space.Or if you're still a bit spaced out, how about something different?
- Silly - Time travel conference
- You don't say - More time spent working means less time spent sleeping
- Fun - Spoof or troof?
- Listen - The Null podcast
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Images: NASA
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