Betelgeuse Supernova

[Insidious Von]

How invincible is humanity?

The Red Hypergiant Star Betelgeuse is about to explode, the last time there was a supernova relatively near Earth it wiped out 80% of life.

 

[manni]

How invincible is humanity?

The Red Hypergiant Star Betelgeuse is about to explode, the last time there was a supernova relatively near Earth it wiped out 80% of life.

Pretty sure about to explode means between now and a couple hundred thousand years

And it’s in the safe zone though we will be treated to a second sun with a glowing ball of light in our sky for 7-12 days straight

 

[Insidious Von]

Rest easy folks, Trump will protect us.

 

[niks9009]

Pretty sure about to explode means between now and a couple hundred thousand years

And it’s in the safe zone though we will be treated to a second sun with a glowing ball of light in our sky for 7-12 days straight

Actually the timescale for Betelgeuse has been shortening. I think they were speaking in the thousands of years rather than hundred thousands. I believe a recent paper claimed that it could even be in the tens of years. However, no way to know when it'll actually be.

It will be pretty cool to witness a supernova that you can see with your naked eye in the sky.

 

[manni]

Actually the timescale for Betelgeuse has been shortening. I think they were speaking in the thousands of years rather than hundred thousands. I believe a recent paper claimed that it could even be in the tens of years. However, no way to know when it'll actually be.

It will be pretty cool to witness a supernova that you can see with your naked eye in the sky.

Didn’t know that …. Hopefully we are lucky enough to see it

 

[Insidious Von]

Scientists are saying that the supernova already happened, it's only a matter of time before the light reaches the Earth. Yes it will be very spectacular, making the solar eclipse seem meek.

Science is trial and error, it was initially believed that the Ordovician Extinction was caused by a supernova. It was actually something more humble but no less life changing.

 

[Insidious Von]

There may be no night sky for over a week.

 

[niks9009]

There may be no night sky for over a week.

I've read that it would look like there is another object with the brightness of the moon in the sky. Hopefully I'll get to see it.

 

[shakenbake]

For all we know, it has already exploded. And we wont see it for another 600+ years.

So, it’s 600+ light years away?

 

[shakenbake]

642.5 LY away to be precise.

So, when we eventually see it, the event happened 642.5 years prior to our seeing it. I thought so.