… as opposed to 2012/Nibiru/Planet X nonsense.
Early last year some imagery of a Wolf-Rayet star, WR 104, caused some concern among scientists. A Wolf-Rayet star is a very large, unstable type of star, and is a prime candidate for the production of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). GRBs are detected all the time, but from very distant sources. They are very, very powerful. So powerful that if one went off nearby it would kill all life on Earth.
Not to worry, however, because in order for a GRB to be dangerous, the source would have to be pointed at us. GRBs emanate from the poles of a rapidly spinning star, and they are collimated, just like a laser beam. So one would have to be pointed directly at us in order for it to be dangerous.
In March 2008, scientists thought that they found one, locked and loaded, and pointed our way. The concern was piqued due to images from the Keck telescope which appeared to show a spiral-shaped system emanating from the star, indicating that we may be looking down the pole of the axis of rotation.
One scientist working at Keck took a closer look using spectroscopic data, and announced at the AAS conference in Long Beach this past week that the star is inclined between 30 and 40 degrees (possibly as much as 45 degrees) away from us.
This is how science deals with real threats, as opposed to how the fraudsters perpetrating the Nibiru hoax would like you to think. Every day I see announcements from people studying this asteroid, or that star, and evaluating the threats. Look at the information on 99942 Apophis for example. So, here’s the deal. When someone tells you that “the authorities” are keeping something like Nibiru quiet to avoid panic, an appropriate reaction is laughter. Because we can see how science deals with threats, we analyze, announce, compare notes, and formulate plans. We don’t hide and hope people don’t notice.