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‘Got any plans for 2037,’ asks Nasa. Viral post explains why
Nasa took to Instagram to share their post that has now gone viral.
Nasa often shares interesting posts on the different pages they manage on Instagram. The space agency’s posts never fail to amaze people. Case in point, this share about a supernova that they shared on the Instagram page dedicated to the Hubble Space Telescope.
“Got any plans for 2037?” Nasa shared. In the next few lines, they explained the reason behind the question. “A supernova “replay” is expected to appear in about 16 years, thanks to the gravity from an enormous galaxy cluster that lies between us and the faraway supernova. The gravity magnified and distorted the light from the supernova blast, splitting it into multiple copies. Three mirror images of Supernova Requiem were spotted by Hubble scattered in an arc-like pattern across the cluster. Each image shows the supernova’s light at different times after the explosive event, and a fourth copy is likely to show up in 2037,” they wrote.
The also added that the prediction of the supernova's return appearance is based on computer models of the cluster.
They further simplified the process using a train analogy. “You can think about the supernova’s different light paths like this: Several trains leave a station at the same time, all traveling at the same speed and bound for the same location. Each train, however, takes a different route, and the distance for each route is not the same. Because the trains travel over different track lengths across different terrain, they do not arrive at their destination at the same time,” they also added.
Take a look at the post:
The post, since being shared, has gathered more than 69,000 likes and counting. It has also accumulated different comments from people.
“This is absolutely incredible!” wrote an Instagram user. “Nice,” shared another. “Thanks for the explanation,” posted a third.
What are your thoughts on the post by Nasa?
