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The Arthur C. Clarke Gamma Ray Burst

Journal written by Grendel70 (1000350) and posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 25, @02:54PM
from the second-biggest-bang dept.
Space Sci-Fi
Larry Sessions, a columnist for Earth & Sky, has suggested in his blog that the gamma-ray event whose radiation reached us a few hours before Arthur C. Clarke died, and which occurred 7.5 billion years ago, be named the Clarke Event. The outburst, which produced enough visible light to render it a naked-eye object across half the universe, is officially designated GRB 080319B. What more fitting tribute to Clarke than to associate his name with the greatest bang since the big one? Sessions suggests writing to any astronomers, heads of physics departments, or planetarium operators you know and talking up the proposal.

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[+] Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead At 90 538 comments
Many readers are sending in word that Arthur C. Clarke has died in Sri Lanka. He wrote over 100 books including 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous With Rama, and popularized the ideas of geosynchronous communications satellites and space elevators.
[+] Gamma Ray Burst Visible At Record Distance 68 comments
Invisible Pink Unicorn writes "A gamma ray burst detected on March 19 by NASA's Swift satellite has set a new record for the most distant object that could be seen with the naked eye. The burst had a measured redshift of 0.94, meaning the explosion took place 7.5 billion years ago. The optical afterglow from heated gas was 2.5 million times more luminous than the most luminous supernova ever recorded, making it the most intrinsically bright object ever observed by humans in the universe. The previous most distant object visible to the naked eye is the nearby galaxy M33, a relatively short 2.9 million light years from Earth."
Firehose:A Fitting Tribute by Grendel70 (1000350)
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  • No Europa Landings! (Score:5, Funny)

    by explosivejared (1186049) <hagan@jared.gmail@com> on Tuesday March 25, @02:58PM (#22861134)
    Just don't name any missions to Europa after him! That would probably upset him.

  • If they find a new cluster of stars (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 25, @02:58PM (#22861138)
    If they find a large cluster of stars in the near future, I'll recommend "The Dick Cheney Clusterfuck."

    • So, what do you have against stars? (Score:5, Funny)

      by StefanJ (88986) on Tuesday March 25, @04:59PM (#22862770) Homepage Journal
      Seriously, what if there's a inhabited planet around one of those stars and they find out what we think of them some day? We might be the ones who end up getting the shock-and-awe treatment, with a Mother Of All Nova Bombs.

      The only collection of objects that might deserve the name Cheney might be a scattering of parasite-ridden coyote droppings. Although given that scavenger dung may have better poll ratings . . .

  • Minor correction... (Score:5, Funny)

    by diesel66 (254283) * on Tuesday March 25, @03:00PM (#22861190)

    What more fitting tribute to Clarke than to associate his name with the greatest bang since the big one?
    With all respect due Mr. Clarke and his burst, I would like to point out that Eccentrica Gallumbits [wikipedia.org] is already well know as "the best bang since the big one".

    So long, Mr. Clarke, and thanks for all the fiction...

  • What more fitting tribute to Clarke than to associate his name with the greatest bang since the big one?

    But Zaphod Beeblebrox already has a name. :)

  • Overdoing it (Score:5, Informative)

    by isomeme (177414) <cberry@cine.net> on Tuesday March 25, @03:26PM (#22861526) Homepage Journal
    What, having the single most valuable orbit type [wikipedia.org] named after him isn't enough? The orbit has the further advantage of actually being his idea.

  • The Objective is to Remember (Score:5, Insightful)

    by moore.dustin (942289) on Tuesday March 25, @03:32PM (#22861576)
    With all due respect, should we not remember him by naming something after him that itself will be remembered? I mean really, this Gamma Ray Burst is not going to be a topic for many people in even a couple weeks, let alone several years from now. We remember Kennedy via the Kennedy Space Center, Hawking gets Hawking Radiation, Einstein/Galileo has some satellites and the examples are really endless here. Why not name something after him which will carry his namesake more actively throughout the future. Of course this is not the only thing that will bear his name, but out of all the possibilities people want to spend their effort on this one? I'd like to see that enthusiasm directed towards something better than getting a GRB event named after him. Cool? Maybe. Lasting? No.

    • Re:The Objective is to Remember (Score:4, Informative)

      by reverseengineer (580922) on Tuesday March 25, @04:18PM (#22862214)
      In terms of more lasting recognition for Arthur C. Clarke, he already has asteroid 4923 Clarke, a dinosaur, Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei, Clarke orbits (an IAU recognized term for geostationary orbit), , a bunch of space stuff has already been named for his Odyssey works, and if we ever build a space elevator, it's likely his name will be connected in some way with that. The man has already been much honored, and deservedly so.

  • The Star (Score:4, Funny)

    by Guy Harris (3803) <guy@alum.mit.edu> on Tuesday March 25, @03:46PM (#22861772)

    An explosive event in space named after Clarke? Oh, great.... [lucis.net]

  • An alternative proposal (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hcdejong (561314) <h.c.de.jong@xmsnetPARIS.nl minus city> on Tuesday March 25, @04:10PM (#22862086)
    How about making sure Clarke Orbit becomes the common name for the geostationary orbit?

  • Why God? (Score:4, Funny)

    by STrinity (723872) on Tuesday March 25, @04:54PM (#22862720) Homepage
    There were so many stars you could have used. What was the need to give those people to the fire, so the symbol of their passing might shine above Sri Lanka?

    • Re:no, don't care for it (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MightyMartian (840721) on Tuesday March 25, @03:00PM (#22861178) Journal
      How does that follow? Astronomical bodies get named after famous people or scientists frequently. No one is saying Clarke caused it (after all, it did happen over seven billion years ago), but it's a way of recognizing one of the most influential science/sci-fi writers who has ever lived.

    • Re:no, don't care for it (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 25, @03:01PM (#22861194)

      The Clarke Event makes it sound like he was involved in it some way. Show that his death triggered the burst and I will be most impressed.

      "Look," whispered a Slashdotter, and Jollyreaper lifted his eyes to heaven. (There is always a last time for everything.)

      Overhead, in glorious blazes of gamma radiation, the stars were going out.

      • Re:no, don't care for it (Score:5, Funny)

        by jollyreaper (513215) on Tuesday March 25, @05:32PM (#22863178)

        "Look," whispered a Slashdotter, and Jollyreaper lifted his eyes to heaven. (There is always a last time for everything.)

        Overhead, in glorious blazes of gamma radiation, the stars were going out.
        "No, you dolt," said Jollyreaper. "It is a passing cloud." (The simplest explanation is usually the best.)

        "Ah, so it is," replied the Anonymous Coward, and crawled back into his cave.

    • Re:no, don't care for it (Score:4, Funny)

      by hansamurai (907719) <hansamurai@gmail.com> on Tuesday March 25, @03:14PM (#22861364) Homepage Journal
      Ever since I was a kid I wondered who this Haley was that first threw a comet out of our atmosphere.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Zymergy (803632) *
      What about Light-Ballmerchairs?

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by andy314159pi (787550)

        What about Light-Ballmerchairs?
        First you'd have to find some experimentalists that were courageous enough to want to measure the the speed of a Ballmer thrown chair.

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by snl2587 (1177409)

          It's simple! Get a hand-held radar gun, find Steve Ballmer in a public place and ensure there's an easily-throwable chair nearby. Then point to someone and tell Steve that the guy said the iPod was inferior to the Zune. Viola! All that suffers is your cons

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by Gat0r30y (957941)

      the eliot spitzer event
      That one's already taken, don't worry though, she got a towel to clean that mess out of her hair.

      On a serious note, I do hope we can name it after Clarke, he has inspired many (including myself). And this seems as fitting a tribute as any.
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