Betelgeuse Supernova - New England Patriots Forums

Holy Diver · 06-01-2010, 06:50 PM

I'm just starting to hear about this star in the Orion constaellation that is on the verge of going supernova (errr....HAS GONE supernova, we are just 650 million light years away) Its the very top star above the belt.

The star will collapse, its a matter of when, but leaks out of some observatories is that its well on the way. Perhaps the light from it is only weeks, or months away.

Is Betelgeuse about to blow? | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

If this happens it will be brighter than the full moon, and appear as two suns in some places. Other regions will have 24 hr days for months. The blog goes on to say that we are too far away to be affected by its eventual radiation, and then collapsing into a black hole. The issue we might have is on extra light affecting crops. But one thing is for sure...it will affect people on Earth in other ways. Peeps are gunna go BAT $#!T!!

Thought it was interesting. The Blogger warns that the sources are unnamed...so walk gently.

PatsWSB47 · 06-02-2010, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holy Diver

I'm just starting to hear about this star in the Orion constaellation that is on the verge of going supernova (errr....HAS GONE supernova, we are just 650 million light years away) Its the very top star above the belt.

The star will collapse, its a matter of when, but leaks out of some observatories is that its well on the way. Perhaps the light from it is only weeks, or months away.

Is Betelgeuse about to blow? | Bad Astronomy | Discover Magazine

If this happens it will be brighter than the full moon, and appear as two suns in some places. Other regions will have 24 hr days for months. The blog goes on to say that we are too far away to be affected by its eventual radiation, and then collapsing into a black hole. The issue we might have is on extra light affecting crops. But one thing is for sure...it will affect people on Earth in other ways. Peeps are gunna go BAT $#!T!!

Thought it was interesting. The Blogger warns that the sources are unnamed...so walk gently.

So? We'll save money on electricity for night games

***patsfan13*** · 06-02-2010, 01:30 PM

We can't really predict when a supernova will occur with any precision.

Everyone on the planet will either see the supernova dueing the day or at night, where you are at doesn't matter. THe star is in Orion if it is winter when we see Orion youwill see the nova at night as a 24 hr day. If the star goes supernova at a time of year when the Orion constellation is not seen you will see a second sun effect. The time of year when the supernova occurs will control what you see.

The good thing for us is that neither the north or south pole of the star are pointed at us if they were we would be toast. The gamma ray burst occur along the axis of the poles (think the magnetic field of the star).

***Wolfpack*** · 06-02-2010, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holy Diver

I'm just starting to hear about this star in the Orion constaellation that is on the verge of going supernova (errr....HAS GONE supernova, we are just 650 million light years away) Its the very top star above the belt.

Isn't that where Ford Prefect is from? And let me be clear: When I say Ford Prefect, I am talking about

and NOT:

***Wolfpack*** · 06-02-2010, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holy Diver

Thought it was interesting. The Blogger warns that the sources are unnamed...so walk gently.

I'll tell you the number one problem I have with this story, without even delving into the science. If we are to believe the unnamed friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-some-guy's-son, what they are predicting could be the single most significant stellar event since that asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.

So how are these anonymous scientists revealing their find, which would be one of the greatest and most monumental in the history of astronomy? Are they publishing papers? Pursuing peer-review? Giving lectures and conferences? Of course not - that would be too obvious! Instead, they are starting a whisper campaign on the internet.

Now to attack the science: We simply do not have the knowledge to predict the occurance of a supernova to within a timeframe of a couple weeks. It would be like observing a plane leave Boston headed for Honolulu and predicting the exact time of arrival to within 1 second. You know it's going to get there eventually, you know about how long it should take and you can even factor in wind/weather/distance/etc, but you're just not going to predict it with such flawless accuracy. You'd be VERY lucky to be within 5 minutes, and even that is not guaranteed. So for supernovae, the problem is that in reality 1 second = 10 years.

EDIT: I wrote the above paragraph before reading PF13's post, which is very much on the same page as mine. I was not plagiarizing, just GMTA.

Holy Diver · 06-02-2010, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

I'll tell you the number one problem I have with this story, without even delving into the science. If we are to believe the unnamed friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-some-guy's-son, what they are predicting could be the single most significant stellar event since that asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.

So how are these anonymous scientists revealing their find? Are they publishing papers? Pursuing peer-review? Giving lectures and conferences? Of course not - that would be too obvious! Instead, they are starting a whisper campaign on the internet.

Now to attack the science: We simply do not have the knowledge to predict the occurance of a supernova to within a timeframe of a couple weeks. It would be like observing a plane leave Boston headed for Honolulu and predicting the exact time of arrival to within 1 second. You know it's going to get there eventually, you know about how long it should take and you can even factor in wind/weather/distance/etc, but you're just not going to predict it with such flawless accuracy. You'd be VERY lucky to be within 5 minutes, and even that is not guaranteed. So for supernovae, the problem is that in reality 1 second = 100 years.

EDIT: I wrote the above paragraph before reading PF13's post, which is very much on the same page as mine. I was not plagiarizing, just GMTA.

Agreed, and the blogger points out most of the science in the blog, as well as his own skepticism about such unnnamed sources and predictive science. Not sure if you read it, but he pretty much states that he thinks its BS, but we can never know, nor will know until you actually see it. And there is no real way for science to predict it, as the shape of the supernova could merly be expanding gas on the surface.

I thought it was interesting, thats why I posted it.