Is a Death Star Poised for Final Supernova

[thefinalfrontier]

Australian astronomers have been studying an intergalactic assassin poised to wipe out life on Earth. Maybe. Observations indicate that cosmological curiosity WR104 may be a killer - and we might be the victim.

The pretty pinwheel that makes the system so distinctive is now know to be a combination of two stars - a blue star orbiting the Wolf-Rayet 104. Note that the "Wolf-Rayet" name is the astronomical equivalent of a beeping red LCD countdown reading "0:01" - it's a swollen star getting ready for final supernova detonation.

Read more...

[schizoidwoman]

"On the upside we'll never see it coming. " Well, at least that's a positive!

[Tengel]

"Even better, this Earthicidal explosion may have already happened with the lethal radiation already speeding its way right at us."

Well, that's a comforting thought... O.o

The picture's pretty, though.

[CausticGnostic]

Fear not! The Rebel Alliance will take it out!

Cut the chatter Red Two! And stay on target! . . . Staay on target!

[Tengel]

"Lol.. gamma rays aren't exactly highly interactive with matter, we get showered with them nonstop by ancient supernovae in the cosmic background radiation. If we took a direct hit it would be a short irradiation of most likely the Earth's innards, not us. The chances of the light interacting with human matter would be mind bogglingly small, it most certainly wouldn't amount to any kind of extinction. Granted though, it would case a small increase in cancer"

I were glancing over the 'reviews' for that article, and came across this. Now, is this true? Would the only effect of that huge Death Star (Star Wars flashback.. whoa... xD) thing be a 'small increase in cancer'?