Waiting for Betelgeuse: what's up with the tempestuous star?

O

OldMercsRule

Verified User
https://phys.org/news/2019-12-betelgeuse-tempestuous-star.html

"Have you noticed that Orion the Hunter—one of the most iconic and familiar of the wintertime constellations—is looking a little… different as of late? The culprit is its upper shoulder star Alpha Orionis, aka Betelgeuse, which is looking markedly faint, the faintest it has been for the 21st century.

When will this nearby supernova candidate pop, and what would look like if it did?
The story starts, as all good astronomy and space stories seem to, on Friday night going into a holiday weekend. We started seeing discussion on Betelgeuse trending on social media on the evening of Friday, December 20th, and dug down to the source of the excitement: a December 8th paper, "The Fainting of the Nearby Red Supergiant Betelgeuse," by researchers at Villanova University. Light curve estimates courtesy of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) verified the assertion that the star had, indeed, faded about one magnitude, or a little over one-half from its usual magnitude +0.5 to +1.5. Noticing the sky was clear, we headed up to our parking garage rooftop observing site in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, to take a look. Betelgeuse was, indeed, noticeably fainter, about a shade dimmer than nearby +1 magnitude Aldebaran."



It is worth a look: sports fans!


burp... :cool:
 
Betelgeuse is like an old friend to me, so hopefully it is not on track to supernova. On the other hand, I consider neutron stars to be among the weirdest things in the universe and I see the potential research opportunities as virtually endless!
 
Cypress said:
Betelgeuse is like an old friend to me, so hopefully it is not on track to supernova. On the other hand, I consider neutron stars to be among the weirdest things in the universe and I see the potential research opportunities as virtually endless!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I kinda like that old guy also...mostly because Orion is my favorite constellation.

Fact is, though, it may already have gone supernova...and we do not know about it yet. If i went super nova today...we would not know about it until 2600 or so.
 
Frank Apisa said:
Yeah, I kinda like that old guy also...mostly because Orion is my favorite constellation.

Fact is, though, it may already have gone supernova...and we do not know about it yet. If i went super nova today...we would not know about it until 2600 or so.
Click to expand...

Unless it supernoved in the past and we are just now on the cusp of seeing the light and radiation from the event.

The cosmic event I rank as the most epic is the eventual collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.
 
Cypress said:
Betelgeuse is like an old friend to me, so hopefully it is not on track to supernova. On the other hand, I consider neutron stars to be among the weirdest things in the universe and I see the potential research opportunities as virtually endless!
Click to expand...

I like ta gaze at Betelgeuse toooooooo! I'd like it even better if she blew durin' my lifetime, (not likely)… sniff... sniff...
 
Cypress said:
Unless it supernoved in the past and we are just now on the cusp of seeing the light and radiation from the event.

The cosmic event I rank as the most epic is the eventual collision of the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies.
Click to expand...

3 to 4 billion years for now when our own star, (ol' Sol), would prolly swell up on a diet of helium n' might even chomp ol' earth up. burp... At least there is a shot to see ol' Orion A cornsum itsef if she blew 600 years back give or take. Where's them thar neutrinos eh: sports fans?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top