[net.space] using Supernovas to measure gravity's speed

KING@KESTREL@sri-unix (08/03/82)

	A supernova explosion, per se, would have no effect on nearby
stars because the gravity of any spherically symmetric mass is the
same as the gravity of an equal point mass at its center, provided
that the measurement is made farther from the center than any of the
symmetric mass.

                            H O W E V E R

	A supernova suddenly unleashes radiation, decreasing the mass
of the object.  (Anyone know by how much?  I would assume a few tenths
of a percent.)  This doesn't help, however, because the radiation
wouldn't be beyond the target star until the gravitational effects of
the explosion should have gone that far.
	What we really want is an object that shoots off mass in an
asymmetrical manner.  I seem to recall reading something about gas
jets in Scientific American...