Betelgeuse

[John Clark]

It may mean nothing, it probably means nothing, but ... in the last 4 months Betelgeuse has decreased in brightness, it is now the dimmest it's been in recorded history, and a very rapid dimming is exactly what you'd expect to happen just before a red supergiant goes supernova. When it does go supernova, which it certainly will very soon (astronomically speaking), it will look like nothing ever seen before, brighter than the full moon but with all the light concentrated at a single point. And the TV preachers will have a field day.

John K Clark

[Alan Grayson]

On Tuesday, December 24, 2019 at 8:36:45 AM UTC-7, John Clark wrote:

It may mean nothing, it probably means nothing, but ... in the last 4 months Betelgeuse has decreased in brightness, it is now the dimmest it's been in recorded history, and a very rapid dimming is exactly what you'd expect to happen just before a red supergiant goes supernova. When it does go supernova, which it certainly will very soon (astronomically speaking), it will look like nothing ever seen before, brighter than the full moon but with all the light concentrated at a single point. And the TV preachers will have a field day.

John K Clark

How soon will it explode, and is it far enough away not to pose a threat to our planet? AG

[John Clark]

On Tue, Dec 24, 2019 at 3:20 PM Alan Grayson <agrays...@gmail.com> wrote:

It may mean nothing, it probably means nothing, but ... in the last 4 months Betelgeuse has decreased in brightness, it is now the dimmest it's been in recorded history, and a very rapid dimming is exactly what you'd expect to happen just before a red supergiant goes supernova. When it does go supernova, which it certainly will very soon (astronomically speaking), it will look like nothing ever seen before, brighter than the full moon but with all the light concentrated at a single point. And the TV preachers will have a field day.

> How soon will it explodede

 

Sometime between 24 hours and a 100 thousand years from now, although the recent dimming might push the oddsmakers slightly closer to favoring the shorter end of that spectrum, 

> and is it far enough away not to pose a threat to our planet? AG

It's far enough away to be safe but close enough to put on one hell of a good show.

John K Clark

[Lawrence Crowell]

It could be a sign the core has been running out of nuclear fuel. Given that photons take 10s of thounds of years to make it through the layers of gas this is a symptom of the past. Once the core poops out it is implosion time. With that comes the SNII event. It could happen any time.

LC

[Alan Grayson]

642.5 light years. AG 

John K Clark

[spudb...@aol.com]

 I shall write my congress creature in protest to the stellar incorrectness!  I wonder if this will start a new religion? As long as we aren't bathed in sterilizing radiation, which would indicate less worry about global warming, more concern with underground living...

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