Betelgese About to go Supernova!

Just a friendly reminder to please stick to the topic, and do not target our fellow members. The topic is the possibility that Betelgeuse will go nova. Please adhere to that from this point forward.

TheBorg
Forum Member and Moderator

Betelgeuse is 640 lightyears away

LINK
and
adamhamilton.cor.org...

If it was 640 million LY away, it would only be a pinprick in even the hubble space telescope.

Well...this freaks me out a bit I have to say...who wouldn't get the urge to run underground if you saw a light flash brighter than the moon at night and visible in the day time?

Damn GRB's and supernova, leave us alone! We already have to deal with nuclear war, pole shifts, super volcanoes, pollution, asteroids and comets!


Well, upon further investigation, it may only cause chromosome damage...that is a relief...

[edit on 26-5-2010 by SmokeandShadow]

Betelgeuse has been shrinking in size at a rather alarming rate since at least 1993, losing more than 15% of it's diameter from then until 2009 (when this article was written). It's not known yet why this is happening, but one possibility is that it is the beginning of its death throes, signaling impending super nova. Otherwise, it could just be some normal process of shrinking and rebounding that we don't yet know about or understand (some other kinds of stars do thing).

Ever since I first read about this effect last year, and how close Betelgeuse is to supernova, I have wondered if it's something I'll see in my lifetime. There's more than a 1/20 chance, probably, considering how many years I likely have left in my life vs. the "anytime in the next 1000 years" idea of how long it has left to live.

[edit on 5/26/2010 by LifeInDeath]

OK.

I hate the need to defend myself, but I'm coming across as an ignorant cod. The impression's been made, not much I can do about that now.

Nonetheless, and despite my initial post, I DO know that a light year is a little more than an Earth year. Why I put million is really based on 1) fatigue; 2) drugs (prescription, thank you); and 3) pure carelessness in an effort to post this as fast as I could.

I am not saying I am a superhuman MENSA candidate like potential_problem -- for he alone will save the quality and intellectual level of ATS for us all -- but I did happen to graduate high school and, more shocking, college. Well, at least, I did pay for that degree over the email from the University of Barbados or something like that.

Anyway, back on topic.

reply to post by behindthescenes


Don't worry about it, anyone can make a mistake. It's a valid thread and great topic

I hope we get to see what ever happens to this star in our lifetime. It could provide some observational evidence to support current star models, or refute the model and provide evidence for the Electric Universe theory. For Electric Universe model, check out this article titled, "The Mystery of the Shrinking Red Star".
Two schools of thought, either this is an old and dying star, or a young star that will end up looking like our sun by the time it stops shrinking.