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Double"O"

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Is betelgeuse gonna go supernova?

I've been reading about it dimming and acting all cranky over the last few months and what it would look like it goes supernova...pretty crazy crap

Snover what are your thoughts?
 

James Snover

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Yes, but it could be anytime between now and the next hundred million years. If I remember right, Big B is less than 1,000 light years away. So when it goes up it'll be a hell of a show. Some of my astronomer buddies say you'd have two shadows in the daytime: one from the sun, one from Betelgeuse. All but one think we'd be safe, and the one who says it might be dangerous says it would only be dangerous if it shoots out polar beams, and one of them happened to be pointed our way. Chances of that are pretty slim, because it would have to have been pointing where we are now, 1,000-odd years ago.

In the meantime, it's going to be cool as anything to see what the Big B does as it becomes more unstable. One guy says its dimming because it is spitting out huge clouds of dust and gas.

I'll keep giving it a look, when it's over the horizon, that's for certain.
 

CobraBob

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I was reading about Betelgeuse yesterday, and intrigued. The source was saying that it is possible we could see the "light show" later this year if the dimming persists. Or it could happen within the next 100 years. Something like that. Interesting stuff!
 

svtfocus2cobra

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I was readying about it also. Said if it does go Supernova then that means it occurred in the year 1406 if I remember right. I was wondering about the pulsar too but it sounds like James explained it. If that was aimed at us would we get any warning or would we just see what the star is doing and then just get vaporized or would we have a lot of time of knowing?
 

Double"O"

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I was readying about it also. Said if it does go Supernova then that means it occurred in the year 1406 if I remember right. I was wondering about the pulsar too but it sounds like James explained it. If that was aimed at us would we get any warning or would we just see what the star is doing and then just get vaporized or would we have a lot of time of knowing?

The pulsar would suck a big one if it hit us

I wanna say B is 700 light years away
 

Coosawjack

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If it "goes".......means it may have already long since "gone" since it takes 700+ years for the light to get here.......hard to grasp that, huh??:eek:

Just think......the light we are seeing now from Betelgeuse began it's journey in the early 1300's.......WOW!!:confused:

BTW.....Light travels at 186,000 Miles Per Second!!:eek:
 
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James Snover

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I was readying about it also. Said if it does go Supernova then that means it occurred in the year 1406 if I remember right. I was wondering about the pulsar too but it sounds like James explained it. If that was aimed at us would we get any warning or would we just see what the star is doing and then just get vaporized or would we have a lot of time of knowing?
This wouldn't be a pulsar, as such. What happens is that supernovas shoot out polar jets, from the North and South poles of the stars, whose collimation somehow persists for thousands of light years. We don't really understand how they can stay so tightly collimated, or in a "beam," over such great distances. In addition to all the ordinary omnidirectionally-radiating energy and debris. The inverse square law protects us from all the omnidirectional blast effects. But the polar jets would be like getting blasted in the face by a Star Wars Deathstar-on-steroids. But, also, highly unlikely to happen because it would have to have been pointed where we are now, 700+ years ago.

But, if it DID happen, I think we'd know it was about to happen because we would see, for a short period, Betelgeuse becoming insanely bright. Way brighter than the noon-day sun in the middle of desert. 100 to 1,000 times brighter than the sun; really we have no way to calculate it. You see that, say your goodbyes and say your prayers. But, the odds are two in 700-light years multiplied by two moving bodies (us and Big B). Pretty much zero.
 

ajaf1656

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This wouldn't be a pulsar, as such. What happens is that supernovas shoot out polar jets, from the North and South poles of the stars, whose collimation somehow persists for thousands of light years. We don't really understand how they can stay so tightly collimated, or in a "beam," over such great distances. In addition to all the ordinary omnidirectionally-radiating energy and debris. The inverse square law protects us from all the omnidirectional blast effects. But the polar jets would be like getting blasted in the face by a Star Wars Deathstar-on-steroids. But, also, highly unlikely to happen because it would have to have been pointed where we are now, 700+ years ago.

But, if it DID happen, I think we'd know it was about to happen because we would see, for a short period, Betelgeuse becoming insanely bright. Way brighter than the noon-day sun in the middle of desert. 100 to 1,000 times brighter than the sun; really we have no way to calculate it. You see that, say your goodbyes and say your prayers. But, the odds are two in 700-light years multiplied by two moving bodies (us and Big B). Pretty much zero.

 

Sirraf

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It may have already went supernova. Depending on how far away it is, we are seeing light from millions of years ago.
 

blk02edge

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Betelguese is 642.5 LY away, we are seeing it from 642.5 years ago. Light in general, we have seen from a whole lot farther than millions of years.

If you guys want to see some truly hard to fathom stuff, watch some documentaries on Nuetron stars and especially Magnetars.
 

Double"O"

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Betelguese is 642.5 LY away, we are seeing it from 642.5 years ago. Light in general, we have seen from a whole lot farther than millions of years.

If you guys want to see some truly hard to fathom stuff, watch some documentaries on Nuetron stars and especially Magnetars.

I have watched some of that...made my brain pour out of my ears

Just the sheer size of the milky way is hard to comprehend and to think that it's small on the grand scale of space is crazy

This video really puts it into perspective on a planetary scale and even this is amazing and difficult to comprehend

 

CobraBob

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If it "goes".......means it may have already long since "gone" since it takes 700+ years for the light to get here.......hard to grasp that, huh??:eek:

Just think......the light we are seeing now from Betelgeuse began it's journey in the early 1300's.......WOW!!:confused:

BTW.....Light travels at 186,000 Miles Per Second!!:eek:
Sometimes it's hard to wrap your brain around stuff like this. Amazing!
 

72MachOne99GT

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I have watched some of that...made my brain pour out of my ears

Just the sheer size of the milky way is hard to comprehend and to think that it's small on the grand scale of space is crazy

This video really puts it into perspective on a planetary scale and even this is amazing and difficult to comprehend


Didnt watch this video but I imagine it starts iff with earth and we gradually become a smaller and smaller dot.

The scale of some of the stars these videos usually present is just laughable. I know it’s probably not made up, but Christ, when we are a period on this forum (desktop or mobile) and the stars they are showing are the size of Texas, I just assume by then that science could be shoveling me full of horse shit and I’d never know the difference.

It becomes so hard to grasp that your head does that sort of spinny thing when you almost grasp the idea of eternity.
 

Double"O"

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Didnt watch this video but I imagine it starts iff with earth and we gradually become a smaller and smaller dot.

The scale of some of the stars these videos usually present is just laughable. I know it’s probably not made up, but Christ, when we are a period on this forum (desktop or mobile) and the stars they are showing are the size of Texas, I just assume by then that science could be shoveling me full of horse shit and I’d never know the difference.

It becomes so hard to grasp that your head does that sort of spinny thing when you almost grasp the idea of eternity.

There is another video that depicts distance from the ground out to the outside of the milky way...its nuts
 

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