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| An artist's idea of what this event could loook like from Earth |
The star Betelgeuse has been making the news lately. Betelgeuse is a supergiant star with a mass more than 100,000 times that of the Sun and one of the brightest known starts in our galaxy. Because of its huge size, it is burning through its fuel at an incredible rate.
Betelgeuse is near the end of it's life for sure, and that end could come at any time. In fact, Betelgeuse is due to go supernova at any (astronomical) time. It's important to note that we're talking about astronomical time where 1,000 years is considered just the blink of an eye.
How would a Betelgeuse supernova affect the Earth? Do a little research online, and post your comments?
- Where is Betelgeuse located in our sky?
- What is a supernova?
- Would it be visible from Earth?
- Would it be harmful?
- Why are some news stories calling it a potential "second sun?"
1. The constellation Orion
ReplyDelete2. A supernova is the catastrophic death of a star, characterized by a massive output of energy.
1. It is located in the constellation "orion" and is appx. 640 light years away from the Earth.
ReplyDelete2. when a star explodes.
3. Yes
4. Earth will be covered with mostly harmless particles
5. When Betegeuse finally explodes, we will be able to see it and it will look a second sun, but will only last a few weeks.
3. yes, located in the Greek ancient hunter
ReplyDelete4. not likely to cause any harm to the earth
I agree with Nibz, except for the fact he misspelled Betelgeuse. So to correctly complete his statement, When Betelgeuse finally explodes, we will be able to see it and it will look a second sun, but will only last a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is visible from Earth. However, it's not harmful to Earth or anything on Earth. As Hraldo and Nibz said, when it does explode, it will be visible from Earth but it wont stay visible for long.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with the location of the star, and that it will in fact be harmless, however, i have to wonder about whether or not we would be able to see it. The star Betelgeuse is 640 light years away, making it very distant in terms of our measurements. With it being 640 light years away, it would take 640 years for the light to reach us here on Earth, theoretically, the star could have exploded 639 years ago, and the light of such an explosion will soon reach Earth, but we can't for sure say whether that has happened or not until we see it for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteGood comments so far. Here's another question: in the photo on the top of this blog, the new sun is very near the Sun in the sky. This would only happen during a certain time of the year. See if you can figure out what month this artist's rendition depicts.
ReplyDeleteI beileve that the time of year this is is either in the winter or early spring, based on where Betelgeuse is located. (which is on the shoulder of Orian the Hunter). So in the picture it looks as though Betelgeuse is either rising with the sun or setting with the sun. After doing some research I found out that Betelgeuse sets with the sun during winter or early spring. I also found out that it will not be in this posistion again until Fall again where it will rise as the sun sets. Now I don't know if this is entirely true so please post your comments.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Chickan Joe was right. According to wikipedia.com, which i know many believe to be unfactual, which it can be, but usually isn't, Betelgeuse is located in a place where it looks like it's right next to the sun in January. So, yeah, winter/early spring is pretty much accurate. But also, it's ORION, not ORIAN, though good job on the "hunter" thing.
ReplyDeleteI think we're headed down the wrong path here. Orion is visible in the night sky in the winter and early spring. If it is visible at night, what does that say about Orion's location relative to the Sun?
ReplyDeleteBetelgeuse would be visible to Earth, but it would not be harmful. I agree with everyone else in that, for how long it would be visible is unknown.
ReplyDeletebetelgeuse is located in orion, and a supernova is when a star explodes which people predict will happen to betelgeuse in 2012 and we will have two suns in some way. as for the month and relative to the sun thing, i dont even know wat to say except their close to each other i dunno the answer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the good comments this week!
ReplyDeleteOrion is a winter constellation, meaning it is visible at night during the winter. However, Betelgeuse would not visible at night as it is shown in the picture. Rather, it is quite close to the Sun in the sky. I used the free software "Stellarium" to simulate the sky, and it looks to me like this picture must be depicting an evening around June 14.
ReplyDelete1.I looked up what a supernova is on wikipedia and it says that it is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova, supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy.
ReplyDelete2. Yes
3. A supernova would have to occur with 30 light years to seriously damage the biosphere
Hi, Mr. Bearss!
ReplyDeleteThis would be a magnificent firework display at best. We are out of reach of any harmful effects. The star is around 640 Million light years away. Most likely this star has already been through a supernova we jusnt havent seen it yet. Some people are predicting this is the event for the 2012 Nastrodamus predictions but most likley no effect on us.
ReplyDelete