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Could Betelgeuse Go Boom?

An anonymous reader writes "The answer is No. In space, nobody can hear you scream. However, it might go supernova in the near future, if it hasn't already. I wanna see that, even if it would permanently disfigure Orion. Ka freaking bam!"

36 of 383 comments (clear)

  1. Nova Post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Boom!

    1. Re:Nova Post! by beav007 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Where was the ka-boom? There was supposed to be a betelgeuse-shattering ka-boom!!

    2. Re:Nova Post! by auLucifer · · Score: 4, Funny

      It was only a very little supernova, also discovered by a very little astronomer

      --
      If I was witty I'd put something funny here but, as it stands, I am not and have just wasted seconds of your life
    3. Re:Nova Post! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Is Cowardon a new particle?

    4. Re:Nova Post! by magarity · · Score: 2, Funny

      because the first we'd know about it would be the gamma burst
       
      No, no, no, the first way to tell if a star has already gone supernova is by the change in graviton waves.
       
      Just need to finish figuring out how to detect those... maybe if we supply more power to the lateral sensor array...

    5. Re:Nova Post! by moosesocks · · Score: 2, Funny

      Turns out it was Mostly Harmless.

      --
      -- If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done? - Uli's moose
    6. Re:Nova Post! by Nursie · · Score: 2, Funny

      Actually, thinking about this rationally, I'm sure the Jedi could detect it ahead of time as planets in it's wake are destroyed.

  2. when it will happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's probably gonna blow the next time Lydia yells Betelgeuse 3 times.

    1. Re:when it will happen by kyriosdelis · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's probably gonna blow the next time Lydia yells Betelgeuse 3 times.

      Lydia the Tattooed Lady?

      Oh Lydia, oh Lydia, say, have you met Lydia?
      Lydia the Tattooed Lady.
      She has eyes that folks adore so, and a torso even more so.
      Lydia, oh Lydia, that encyclopedia.
      Oh Lydia the queen of tattoo. On her back is The Battle of Waterloo.
      Beside it, The Wreck of the Hesperus, too.
      And proudly above waves the red, white, and blue.
      You can learn a lot from Lydia!
      La-la-la...la-la-la. La-la-la...la-la-la.

      /ducks

      --
      I don't mind dating a girl that has been with everybody, as long as she had a good shower afterwards.
  3. Probable cause? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Global warming.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  4. Betelgeuse Betelgeuse Betelgeuse by FudRucker · · Score: 3, Funny

    Its showtime

    --
    Politics is Treachery, Religion is Brainwashing
  5. Nebulous by Penguinshit · · Score: 3, Funny

    This constellation ain't big enough for two nebulae!

  6. Where's the kaboom? by Bieeanda · · Score: 5, Funny

    There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!

  7. Re:New doomsday scenario? by GrpA · · Score: 4, Funny

    More of note.

    If it's 640 light years away, then it probably went boom 640 years ago.

    Which only makes sense, since after all, 640 years should be enough for anyone.

    GrpA

    --
    Enjoy science fiction? "Turing Evolved" - AI, Mecha, Androids and rail-gun battles. What more could you want?
  8. Re:Aliens better shield us with something.. by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    The yield of such a gamma ray blast might x-ray and bake us pretty nicely, but it might be distant enough, hopefully.

    But there aren't any aliens around. I wonder if they know something we don't? What we need is a ringworld with the rotation axis at 90 degrees to the direction of Betelgeuse.

  9. Re:Aliens better shield us with something.. by MichaelSmith · · Score: 4, Funny

    I just read a story today about a lady who missed the Air France flight that killed everyone on board and then today died in a car wreck.

    Yeah I think Alanis Morissette is working on the song as we speak.

  10. Heart of Gold by BlackSabbath · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let's hope Zaphod or Ford weren't visiting relatives at the time.

  11. Oh no! by lord_mike · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hope this doesn't interfere with the Green Orion Women Slave Trade from Star Trek...

  12. Re:Wow, Great Summary by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Show us your Warcraft main".

    Your case is proven.

    Your point being?

    - Nefarious Wheel, 40 years an IT geek, also PVP Geared 80 Mage, 80 Hunter

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  13. Re:Aliens better shield us with something.. by Xaoswolf · · Score: 4, Funny

    Well, we better hope it happens during the day when the stars aren't out.

  14. Oh no! by ggvaidya · · Score: 4, Funny

    Betelgeuse is awesome and very, very pretty - I'd hate for it to turn into another colour or vanish altogether. Isn't there someone we could petition to stop this?

  15. Re:Insensitive Clod by James+Skarzinskas · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, who knows? It certainly couldn't hurt your grammar.

  16. Re:Correction - not a supernova by bnenning · · Score: 4, Funny

    it was just Disaster Area tuning up for their gig tonight 600 years ago

    Please consult Dr. Streetmentioner's reference for the proper use of the Relativistic Simul-Past-Present tense.

    --
    How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
  17. Re:Yes by Opportunist · · Score: 1, Funny

    As compared to, it would be called noise if it created a meme.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  18. Re:Obligitory Hitchhiker's reference by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's not a supernova, you see, Betlegeuse was just in the way of an interstellar expressway.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  19. Re:Wow, Great Summary by vigmeister · · Score: 3, Funny

    The new Slashdot. News for nerds with girlfriends.

    --
    Atheist: Buddhist in a Prius
  20. Re:Insensitive Clod by CptNerd · · Score: 5, Funny

    Oh noes, a lethal grammar ray burst!

    --
    By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
  21. Re:Wow, Great Summary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The day I see Comic Sans on Slashdot someone is gonna freakin' die.

  22. Re:Wow, Great Summary by Quothz · · Score: 5, Funny

    That is one heck of a summary. I really like how a line and a half of text is qualifying as a story these days.

    That's what you call your executive summary.

  23. Re:Near future by Gravedigger3 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Or might have blown a few million years ago....

    Did the speed of light slow down again? Really you'd think they'd put out a chain-letter or something.

    --
    All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be. -PF
  24. chk chk ka-boom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I saw it! The fat red giant said to the red dwarf "Oi bro! you're perturbing my orbit".
    The dwarf star said 'Nah man, I didn't for shit, eh' and the other one goes: 'I will call on my fully sick planets, eh'. And then underwent gravitational collapse and chk-chk ka-boom!

  25. Re:Wow, Great Summary by lxs · · Score: 4, Funny

    Journal pages, friends/foes + geeks =

    OMG! Slashdot is the first antisocial networking site.

  26. Re:New doomsday scenario? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Really. Cross-section is ~10e-40 cm^2, average energy is 1 MeV-ish. You work it out.

    42!!

  27. Re:Wow, Great Summary by kungfugleek · · Score: 2, Funny

    Star go boom! Big word scary! Chemicals are mean! Vroom vroom car!

    Yes? Yes? Go on.

  28. Re:Wow, Great Summary by skeeto · · Score: 1, Funny

    I deal with the new Slashdot "features" by installing/writing Greasemonkey scripts to counter them.

  29. Re:Wow, Great Summary by KlomDark · · Score: 2, Funny

    You must be new here... ;)