Odd supergiant star Betelgeuse is brightening up. Is it about to go supernova?
Odd supergiant star Betelgeuse is brightening up. Is it about to go supernova?
'When it happens, the star will become as bright as the full moon, except that it will be concentrated in a single point.'
It's worth noting that when scientists talk about how it's "about to go" supernova, they are saying within the next 10,000 to 100,000 years at the very least.
Dr Becky covered that paper in her video, where the new paper was suggesting within several decades to a hundred or so years. However that is also all based on simulations from observations.
I was going to recommend her recent video that covered the subject. A great explanation of exactly what happens to the fusion process in a star as it runs out of fuel, and what scientists are looking for to signal those changes.
Link to that video for those interested: https://youtu.be/3QgLwpuDGhI
I so hope we see this in in the next 30 - 50 years. Would so amazing and informative. Obviously, hoping it doesn't hurt though. :D
!RemindMe
It's possible it already did. Takes a while for a us to see it
Over 600 years, but that's still miniscule compared to the lifetime of the star.
I hope that's true! We're about at the perfect distance from Betelgeuse; far enough away that it won't hurt us, but close enough to get a great fireworks show!
I'm not sure about not hurting part. Yes, it will not cause a full on extinction, but extra night brightness will indeed kill some nocturnal species. Even caretta carettas might go extinct due to their newborns rely on stars for finding the sea.
Plus we don't have very solid data for super novas considering how rare they are on a human time scale, we have never had this good of instruments to observe such a huge event so closely and precisely.
I really hope I live to see this super nova!
Would be very cool, I read the study and I don't think their science is off but also I'm not an astrophysicist and the study has yet to be peer reviewed.