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From an article discussing the discovery of a new class of hot compact stellar objects:



It's kind of like an AEC spokesman telling a press conference that Ivy Mike was powerful enough to kill everyone in the auditorium. You can't say it isn't true, but ...

My first thought was that the reporter added an extra decimal and meant 2600 Fahrenheit, which would make sense. But on reading the rest of the article, it seemed clear to me that the 26,000 Fahrenheit figure was correct.

Egads, I hate ignorant science reporters. This wasn't even a local reporter; it was an AP wire story. I am thoroughly unimpressed with AP.

So when I melt a lead-tin alloy in my bullet casting pot, I'm probably running ... what ... 25 thousand degrees?

Maybe he just coudn't spell "vaporize"...or perhaps "sublime"?

To melt is fusing; to air, sublime.

Assuming standard pressure, isn't everything at least liquid at 26 thousand degrees?

At standard pressure and 26,000 Fahrenheit temperature, everything is not only vaporized, it's beginning to be ionized. 26,000 F is about
14,000 Kelvin, corresponding to an energy of a little over an electron volt. You'll strip a lot of electrons off of the more reactive metals.

So about 2.5 times the temperature at the surface of the Sun. Ya that should be enough to melt some lead and iron.

About midway between Sirius and Vega. That's some serious heat.