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What Happens When Betelgeuse Explodes?

Posted by Soulskill on from the anticipating-giant-space-booms dept.

StartsWithABang writes: One of the great, catastrophic truths of the Universe is that everything has an expiration date. And this includes every single point of light in the entire sky. The most massive stars will die in a spectacular supernova explosion when their final stage of core fuel runs out. At only an estimated 600 light years distant, Betelgeuse is one (along with Antares) of the closest red supergiants to us, and it's estimated to have only perhaps 100,000 years until it reaches the end of its life. Here's the story on what we can expect to see (and feel) on Earth when Betelgeuse explodes.

7 of 203 comments (clear)

  1. Go ahead, make my millennium by Askmum · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, BEETLEJUICE

    Nope, nothing happened.

    1. Re:Go ahead, make my millennium by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Now you've gone too far...

  2. a little brighter by itzly · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A long winded article where the crucial information "a little brighter" is hidden between 2 pages of fluff.

    1. Re:a little brighter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It will have roughly the same magnitude as the quarter moon, meaning the total flux. Unlike the moon it will appear as an extremely bright pin point of light

      So saying as bright as the quarter moon greatly understates the apparent brightness.

    2. Re:a little brighter by itzly · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In other words, a poorly written article. Plenty of pictures, but not a single one showing a daytime sky with some clouds, a quarter moon, and an accurate representation of what the nova would look like in comparison.

  3. Re:Nothing important. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Er, no.

    The Club of Rome said total collapse before 2000. Back in 1970. They've been saying this ever since I've been alive - just updating the date to keep the scam running.

    In the 1960s it was overpopulation that would kill us. It has been several other things since. But the two fixed points that they always make are that:

    1 - Human Civilisation is just about to collapse
    2 - The Club of Rome needs more money...

  4. Re:Nothing important. by Gavagai80 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If Betelgeuse was going to supernova tomorrow, there'd still be nothing to be concerned about -- just something to be excited about.

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