Betelgeuse

So apparently the new doomsday 2012 prediction is the impending supernova as a result of the largest star in our sky exploding-- Betelgeuse. Fanatics say that as the light of the supernova reaches us our oceans will boil, our atmosphere will become irradiated, and our ozone and protective magnetic field will be stripped away. Alternatively, scientists say the neutrino particles will pass harmlessly through humans and the planet alike. The only viable effect of this unprecedented event in human history is the presence of two "suns" in our atmosphere for an undetermined amount of time. They say that it will be roughly the size of the sun from our perspective.

Other scientists claim that there's no proof, but it's still possible. Their statement is "no one can know!"


To give you a sense of the size of Betelgeuse, and why they think we'll be able to witness it as a second sun, here's a diagram:



When a star goes supernova, its size is roughly multiplied by millions or billions as illustrated here:



As a result, scientists believe this to be the new view we see in the sky for years to come after this event:



What do you think? Personally, I'm excited for this. If it kills us, so be it. If not FUCK YEAH, two suns, no big deal. Going science fiction. Although, scientists also say that we won't have a night cycle for a while... that could have heavy consequences..

 

George lucas predicted it! Earth will be new tatooine!

 

If it ends up looking anything like this, it's going to be fucking sweet.

 

Two suns would seriously disrupt most life systems on earth and could cause some very serious problems. Although it would be bloody awesome.

 

VY Canis Majoris is the largest star in our sky and the largest known.

And the two suns would fuck everything up because they probably wouldn't be in the same place as the sun, so it may never be night..

 

We've already watched a lot of stars explode.

Chances are this won't happen, and even if it does it is at least 180 to 1,300 light years away from the Earth. Meaning that 1) the expanding star will not reach us and 2) it would take at least 180 years for the light to reach us if it was to explode this year.

Though it would be damn cool to have something close to a second sun.

 

Unless it blew up 180-1300 years ago

 

^This, we wouldn't be looking at it now saying "huh, it must be a red giant at this very moment", we say that the visible light we're experiencing shows what use to be a red giant. Therefore, by sequence of events, it may have already blew up because it's been a red giant for much much longer than what the light of the star tells us today... it could already be dead and gone by now, and probably is

 

I really doubt that it would have exploded or we would have noticed the initial stages of a super nova.

 

Read the above posts. Light has a speed; if something is a light year away that means any light it gives off will take 1 year for us to even notice. What we're observing about Betelgeuse is very old data.

 

I'm on the same boat as you Mohtasa. I'd really like to see this.

 

Can`t wait for this to happen . Have been reading all about it and apparently it is meant to happen next month . It is going to be so exciting to see it if it happens .

 

Theres been so many doomsday predictions, just ignore them tbh. They're mainly attention seeking imo.

 

Not having night would be cool. It might give me cause not to go to sleep
But I doubt this will actually happen.

 

What Swan said! We see everything as it was years ago in accordance to how many lightyears it is away. So we see betelgeuse AS IT WAS 180 years ago. It's like we're looking back in time really because the light that it has emitted today won't reach us for another 180 years. Which means it could have exploded today and we won't know for another 180 years. Or it could have exploded 80 years ago and we won't know for another 100 years.
Also the only stage we know of before a supernova is a red giant. As the fuel of the star begins to burn up, it gets larger. It can no longer hold itself together, so it swells immensely, becomes red giant, and eventually it just explodes instantaneously.

At the above two posters: it's scientifically proven that the star will likely detonate in our lifetime. It's also proven that it's far enough away that the only effect we will see if a few days of extreme light to match the brilliance of our sun. The only particles expected to reach us are neutrinos (which pass harmlessly through matter as far as we know)


I really really hope they have some sort of camera system that consistently records the skies so we can all watch it happen if we're indoors or sleeping when it does. I'm sure it'd be an absolute spectacle.

 

This isn't even going to happen, it's completely irrational and ridiculous how some of you even contemplate its occurence in the slightest.

 

Which part is irrational? The fact that Betelgeuse is going supernova, that we'll see it from our planet as a "second sun", or that it'll happen in our lifetime?

 

That wouldn't make any difference, if we were to all boil up, lol.

Anyways, I'm also going to try to stay up-to-date on this because this could be such a beautiful occurrence, at the cost of no night for a bit. Going to feel weird for me though, since I tend to be more octurnal. ;D Hopefully this happens sooner than we think because that would be something crazy to tell future generations. (I remember when we had 2 suns for a while....)

 

I don't know whats going to happen but either way there's no preventing it. So its going to be pretty sweet if we have two suns.

 

I don't think we'll boil up, the star is 180 lightyears away. Radiation and heat should dissipate by the time it reaches us. So much so that it'd just be slightly elevated from the normal radiation that bombards our planet daily from local outer-space sources.

Also, the only particles and forms of energy that travel as fast as light are neutrinos, and they're proven harmless to humans the the environment (granted, probably only in small doses). SOOOOO the matter that could potentially destroy us won't come for a very long time after the explosion because it still has to travel that distance.

DEFINITELY CRAZY for future generations, I'm going to take a picture of myself with the two-sunned sky every day if I live to see it. Just for legacy purposes. tbh even if we do die moments after it happens, what better way than having your last sight be two suns??? legit