Is this poor reporting, or am I confused?

[zagging]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090219/sc_afp/sciencespaceastronomy

"The spectacular blast, which occurred in September in the Carina constellation..."

From what I understand, the article should have said, "The spectacular blast, which WAS DETECTED in September in the Carina constellation...".

Since that constellation is 12.2 billion light years away, the event occured some 12.2 billion years ago depending on the speed of gamma rays, over which there appears to be some debate:

http://www.universetoday.com/2007/10/03/high-energy-gamma-rays-go-slower-than-the-speed-of-light/

If that's not the case, I'm totally lost and have to start over.

[NRaleighLiberal]

1. Bad reporting. Good catch. Understanding science is becoming a lost art.

But wait...how could it have happened 12.2 billion years ago if dinosaurs walked with humans?


:banghead:

[zagging]

3. Thanks

I thought I had lost it there for a moment. I guess science reporters aren't what they used to be.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. God will do the darnedest things to test our faith.

Obviously He hates people who think.

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Obviously you're right.

The event which occurred in September was the detection of something that happened billions of years ago.

[zagging]

4. No by-line

I'd like to fire off an email.

[NRaleighLiberal]

6. Maybe it was penned by Caribou Barbie herself!

[Jackpine Radical]

7. She can see your anus from her house.

Oops--I meant Uranus.

[Orsino]

8. The constellation is within our galaxy.

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_stars_are_in_the_constellation_Carina

It's the explosion which originated billions of light-years farther off.

[Orrex]

9. Maybe it happened in September 12.2 billion years ago?

[Bill McBlueState]

10. eh, that's nitpicky

To be more precise, it should have read, "The spectacular blast was detected in September in the direction of Carina."

But professional astronomers replace "was detected in" with "occured" and "in the direction of a constellation" with "in a constellation" all the time as verbal shorthand. It doesn't bother me if reporters do it.

[zagging]

12. Maybe nitpicky, but...

That article was on the front page of Yahoo for general consumption. I think that our scientific literacy might be better served if the reporter had used the terms you used. Maybe, maybe not.

[pokerfan]

11. no, that's how astronomers talk

In the common vernacular, "constellation" is equivalent to "asterism" (Ursa Major vs. Big Dipper), but technically they are really different things.

Astronomically speaking, a constellation is just a region with defined boundaries. For example, Ursa Major: