🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Aug6.175354.11670@galois.mit.edu> jbaez@nevanlinna.mit.edu (John C. Baez) writes:
>In article <5AUG199216205357@zeus.tamu.edu> dwr2560@zeus.tamu.edu (RING,
>DAVID WAYNE) writes [taken out of context]:
>
>>And I claim it is OK to ignore supernovae....
>
>I wouldn't risk it for one less than a light-year away.

Now you've asked for it.  Why a light-year?  Would
I need sunscreen at a light-year?

What's the proper metric for the damage done by a "local"
supernova? Is it temperature? EM pressure?  Effective
Radiated Power? Degree of difficulty?  (That's for those of
you just coming back from two weeks of being glued to the
Triplecast...wotta waste of time...:-) :-))

Once we have a decent metric (or set of metrics), what's
the survivable level, and how much would Sol put out?
How much does it put out, now?

How about, for both the steady- and nova-states,

    1.  A spectral distribution of EM power.
    2.  A mean flux of mass (aggregate chunks;
    whole atoms; alpha particles; basically,
    anything bigger than a photon, or to put
    it another way, anything that would hurt
    due to momentum rather than radiation).

				--Blair
				  "Astrophysicists need heckling, too..."