48 replies to this topic

[spunky-monkey]

Only several months ago astronomers realised that Betelgeuse, the second brightest star in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter), is dramatically losing mass. The star is a red supergiant, one of the biggest stars known, and almost 1000 times larger than our Sun (that's pretty damn big!).

Judging from the surface activity of Betelgeuse, it is already nearing the end of its life and is soon doomed to explode as a supernova. When it does, the supernova should be seen easily from Earth, even in broad daylight.

Can you imagine how bloody awesome that would be? Not just a great comet mind, Mankind would actually be witnessing a full-blown supernova at a safe distance outshining the full moon at night and appearing as a second sun in daylight. I can only hope that it happens in our lifetime - it would be an amazing sight.

Do you think we'll live to see it?

Artist's impression showing the supergiant star

Surface intensity shows how unstable it has become (I can only find it on this YouTube video)

[Nevermind]

Supernova is definitely something I'd love to witness.

[Veteran]

If we do live to see it, you just know that the Earth will be pointing the wrong bloody way!

[Chukchi Husky]

I guess someone said it three times too many.

[Masamune]

Technically wouldn't it have ALREADY gone Supernova?

[Chikara Nadir]

As much as I can't wait to see this happen (if indeed it does in our lifetimes)...

We're gonna have some crazy cults getting excited about the appearance of that bright in the sky.

[Selena]

It's okay. If you end up missing it after the explosion, I hear that saying its name three times will make it come back from the dead and pull pranks on people.





Still, that would be AWESOME. :D

[Twinrova]

If we do live to see it, you just know that the Earth will be pointing the wrong bloody way!

That's exactly what I was thinking. x__x

So.. o.o Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but if it happens, how long will it last? Like what's the window of time we'd have a chance to actually see it?

[Chukchi Husky]

From what I read a supernova can take weeks or months before it fades from view.

I know one happened before in the year 1006.

[JRPomazon]

Has anyone cared to consider that this Supernova could mean the end of an undiscovered life form in the universe?

[Selena]

Yes, but it's shiny and bright.

[Twinrova]

^ What she said.

[JRPomazon]

Yes, but it's shiny and bright.

^ What she said.

It was at this moment that I realized that if the Earth were ever attacked by other lifeforms from other planets, they might just be justified to do so.

But yeah, should be quite the spectacle.

[Twinrova]

Well, there's no doubt about that. But I wanna see a big explosion in the sky before I'm attacked.

[CID Farwin]

But what will Orion do without his armpit?

Has anyone cared to consider that this Supernova could mean the end of an undiscovered life form in the universe?

Well, it's not like there's anything that we can actually do about it.

Especially since, technically, it's already happened.

We're gonna have some crazy cults getting excited about the appearance of that bright in the sky.

It's the sign of the birth of Christ!

...wait.

[Egann]

This doesn't surprise me. Big stars go through their fuel MUCH faster than smaller stars.

Has anyone cared to consider that this Supernova could mean the end of an undiscovered life form in the universe?

If you've invented a warp drive, I'll be more than happy to go save them.

Other than the pretty fireball in the sky, I have two very big concerns about this.

1. One of the leading theories of climate change (OTHER than Man-Made Global Warming) is that cloud formation is dependent on interstellar cosmic rays to ionize the air to seed them. (See the book "The Chilling Stars") If Betelgeuse goes, cloud formation will go through the roof and we'll find ourselves in another ice-age.

2. Cosmic rays also cause cancer. Go figure.


Not much we can do about it in either case, but still....

[Veteran]

I know one happened before in the year 1006.

I bet the internet was buzzing back then for that one.

[Showsni]

If we invent faster than light travel quickly we can go and see if it happened long enough ago for us to see it soon.

[Nevermind]

so what happens to orions pants if he loses his belt

[Selena]

We get an Orion's Wang sub-constellation.

[Twinrova]

And lots of shooting stars.

Edited by Rova, 27 September 2009 - 10:44 PM.

[Chikara Nadir]

It's okay. If you end up missing it after the explosion, I hear that saying its name three times will make it come back from the dead and pull pranks on people.

You're twisted in a fantastic way, missy.

Has anyone cared to consider that this Supernova could mean the end of an undiscovered life form in the universe?

Has anyone cared to consider that this Supernova may SAVE our race from utter annihilation by some undiscovered war-hungry alien race, the kind only borne out of our wildest nightmares and 80's to early-90's special effects?

See? Makes blowing them up in a blast of fire and shininess sound better again.

[Chukchi Husky]

I know one happened before in the year 1006.

I bet the internet was buzzing back then for that one.

It was if you're one of those people who believe that the Chinese invented everything hundreds of years before everyone else.

[arunma]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I just checked the Wikipedia article, and there's nothing about Betelgeuse going supernova. So this may just be some widely circulated rumor on the Internet. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an astrophysicist.

(Man, I never get tired of saying that!)

[Stew]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I just checked the Wikipedia article, and there's nothing about Betelgeuse going supernova. So this may just be some widely circulated rumor on the Internet. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an astrophysicist.

(Man, I never get tired of saying that!)

An Astrophysicist using Wikipedia as a reference. How proper.

[Selena]

http://www.sciencene...elgeuse_shrinks


Way to go, arun. Master's degree, you say?

[Masamune]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I just checked the Wikipedia article, and there's nothing about Betelgeuse going supernova. So this may just be some widely circulated rumor on the Internet. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an astrophysicist.

Well, I think it's safe to say that's because this supernova isn't big news, like who the next character in FF13 is going to be. I mean, come one. Be realistic here.

[SOAP]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I just checked the Wikipedia article, and there's nothing about Betelgeuse going supernova. So this may just be some widely circulated rumor on the Internet. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an astrophysicist.

(Man, I never get tired of saying that!)

Well it sure as hell says it now.

Fate

It is possible that Betelgeuse will become a supernova,[4][26] which will be the brightest ever recorded, outshining the Moon in the night sky.[26] Considering its size and age of 8.5 million years, old for its size class, it may explode within the next thousand years.[26] Since its rotational axis is not toward the Earth and also because of its 430 light year distance,[26] Betelgeuse's supernova will not cause a gamma ray burst in the direction of Earth large enough to damage its ecosystems.

Nobel Laureate Charles Townes announced evidence that 15 consecutive years of stellar contraction has been observed by UC Berkeley's Infrared Spatial Interferometer (ISI) atop Mt. Wilson Observatory in Southern California. Reported on June 9, 2009, the star has shrunk 15% since 1993 with an increasing rate. The average speed at which the radius of the star is shrinking over the last 15 years is approximately 210–219 m/s (470–490 mph).[27]

According to the university, Betelgeuse's radius is about 5.5 A.U.s, and the star's radius has shrunk by a distance equal to half an astronomical unit, or about the orbit of Venus.[28] Some theorists[who?] have speculated that this behavior is expected for a star at the beginning of the gravitational collapse at the end of its life.[citation needed] The mass of Betelgeuse puts it in range to become a neutron star or possibly a black hole.

Edited by SOAP, 29 September 2009 - 03:34 AM.

[arunma]

Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I just checked the Wikipedia article, and there's nothing about Betelgeuse going supernova. So this may just be some widely circulated rumor on the Internet. But hey, what do I know? I'm just an astrophysicist.

(Man, I never get tired of saying that!)

An Astrophysicist using Wikipedia as a reference. How proper.

If only you knew how accurate Wikipedia really is...

Believe it or not, Wikipedia happens to get practically everything right in the sciences. Only on very few occasions have I seen it falter. Most of us in academia use it as a reference frequently, although we find real sources when we actually cite something.

But actually, I stand (slightly) corrected. If you search the ArXiv astro-ph preprint server for Betelgeuse and supernova, you get one paper:



Here it's suggested that Betelgeuse could go supernova. But seriously, we don't know enough about supernovas to accurately predict when it will happen to a star, so don't hold your breath.

On and Lena, that's PhD.

[Veteran]

Wait, so you're Doctor arunma now? Why the hell haven't you requested a username change?!