Comments on: History of the World: Witnessing a Supernova http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18972 Feel Smart Again Sun, 8 Nov 2009 15:56:41 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: John W http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18972/comment-page-1#comment-101335 John W Sat, 11 Oct 2008 17:05:00 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18972#comment-101335 Not trying to be a jerk (ok, probably unsuccessful on that point), but there are some mistakes in this article. The Crab Nebula is over 5000 light years from the earth, not 7. Admittedly the article mentions "gas and dust seven light years from earth", but that is not possible. (It does have an extent of approximately 7 light years, perhaps that's the source of confusion.) Also the nebula was not named until the 1840's or so, by the Earl of Rosse. I enjoy the mental_floss books, but I hope the new one is better fact-checked than this article leads me to believe. Not trying to be a jerk (ok, probably unsuccessful on that point), but there are some mistakes in this article. The Crab Nebula is over 5000 light years from the earth, not 7. Admittedly the article mentions “gas and dust seven light years from earth”, but that is not possible. (It does have an extent of approximately 7 light years, perhaps that’s the source of confusion.)
Also the nebula was not named until the 1840’s or so, by the Earl of Rosse.
I enjoy the mental_floss books, but I hope the new one is better fact-checked than this article leads me to believe.

]]> By: Brittany http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18972/comment-page-1#comment-101116 Brittany Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:10:00 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18972#comment-101116 Call me crazy... aren't isn't Ireland in Europe? Perhaps you were refering to just the continent... Call me crazy… aren’t isn’t Ireland in Europe? Perhaps you were refering to just the continent…

]]> By: GTT http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18972/comment-page-1#comment-101102 GTT Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:32:00 +0000 http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/18972#comment-101102 That picture is amazing... Can you imagine Europeans in the Dark Ages seeing this? The reason it´s not recorded is because they were all cowering under the bed thinking it was the end of the world! That picture is amazing…

Can you imagine Europeans in the Dark Ages seeing this? The reason it´s not recorded is because they were all cowering under the bed thinking it was the end of the world!

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