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Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

theguardian.com

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Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#21

Post by DirectorKrennic »

isaacfrond wrote: post #3

tl;dr Betelgeuse, the closest red giant star to Earth, is exhibiting unusual behavior. Normally, the star cycles between bright and dim states every 400 days. However, between late 2019 and early 2020, it went through a "great dimming" due to a dust cloud that obscured our view of the star. Currently, Betelgeuse is glowing at 150% of its normal brightness and is cycling between bright and dim states every 200 days, w…

> Betelgeuse is anticipated to explode as a supernova in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years.

Too long. Speed it up.

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#22

Post by prox »

Tangurena2 wrote: post #8

When it explodes, Betelgeuse is expected to be brighter than the full moon. Gamma ray bursts appear to follow the axis of rotation of the star, and since that axis does not point directly at Earth (it is off by about 20 degrees), that's not a threat. So it will be exciting, scary and safe - like a rollercoaster that everyone on Earth gets to ride at the same time.

If it does I hope people will look to the stars more and reflect on their beautiful place in the universe. I can hardly envision a more navel gazing species than humans, and we need more people with telescopes and wide views.

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#23

Post by queuebert »

DirectorKrennic wrote: post #21
isaacfrond wrote: post #3

tl;dr Betelgeuse, the closest red giant star to Earth, is exhibiting unusual behavior. Normally, the star cycles between bright and dim states every 400 days. However, between late 2019 and early 2020, it went through a "great dimming" due to a dust cloud that obscured our view of the star. Currently, Betelgeuse is glowing at 150% of its normal brightness and is cycling between bright and dim states every 200 days, w…

> Betelgeuse is anticipated to explode as a supernova in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years. Too long. Speed it up.

Let's put all this cancer research on hold and figure out a way to accelerate heavy metal burning in stellar cores!

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#24

Post by treeman79 »

isaacfrond wrote: post #11

Wait a minute. If you emit material wouldn't you spin slower . Take the arm waving example from the article. Stand in the middle of the room and spin with you arms at your side. Now suddenly spread you arms. You will notice a marked reduction in rotation speed, not an increase. Who can explain this for me?

Imagine a figure skating spinning fast. Then holds out her arms and slows down. Then someone chops her arms off.

Sort of like that.

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#25

Post by esotericimpl »

queuebert wrote: post #23
DirectorKrennic wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Betelgeuse is anticipated to explode as a supernova in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years. Too long. Speed it up.

Let's put all this cancer research on hold and figure out a way to accelerate heavy metal burning in stellar cores!

No different than spending money on the military to accelerate heavy arms ordinance manufacturing instead of hospitals and schools.

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#26

Post by bell-cot »

Tangurena2 wrote: post #8

When it explodes, Betelgeuse is expected to be brighter than the full moon. Gamma ray bursts appear to follow the axis of rotation of the star, and since that axis does not point directly at Earth (it is off by about 20 degrees), that's not a threat. So it will be exciting, scary and safe - like a rollercoaster that everyone on Earth gets to ride at the same time.

Ah. About that "gamma bursts appear to follow the spin axis" rule - do Earth's astronomers have good data, with a comfortable n, to justify confidence that their little planet can't possibly get toasted by this rather large and unstable stellar neighbor?

Asking for a friend.

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#27

Post by jmclnx »

>There are records from ancient Egypt of what appears to be a star exploding as a supernova. The Egyptians described the appearance of a “second sun” in the sky, says Webb.

That statement interests me, I did a search and the closest thing I found was SN 1006:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1006

But that did not come close to the brightness of the Sun and it happened a bit over 1000 years ago. To me, ancient Egypt refers to well over 2000 years ago.

So wondering if that statement is really true.

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#28

Post by afavour »

eimrine wrote: post #20
isaacfrond wrote: post #3

tl;dr Betelgeuse, the closest red giant star to Earth, is exhibiting unusual behavior. Normally, the star cycles between bright and dim states every 400 days. However, between late 2019 and early 2020, it went through a "great dimming" due to a dust cloud that obscured our view of the star. Currently, Betelgeuse is glowing at 150% of its normal brightness and is cycling between bright and dim states every 200 days, w…

> Betelgeuse is anticipated to explode as a supernova in the next 10,000 to 100,000 years. I would like Theguardian to expose a standard deviation for this kind of data (because I have read from other sources that nobody has the data, it easily may be tomorrow).

The article states that we don't know, a scientist is quoted saying that it could have already happened for all we know.

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#29

Post by BurningFrog »

prox wrote: post #22
Tangurena2 wrote: post #8

When it explodes, Betelgeuse is expected to be brighter than the full moon. Gamma ray bursts appear to follow the axis of rotation of the star, and since that axis does not point directly at Earth (it is off by about 20 degrees), that's not a threat. So it will be exciting, scary and safe - like a rollercoaster that everyone on Earth gets to ride at the same time.

If it does I hope people will look to the stars more and reflect on their beautiful place in the universe. I can hardly envision a more navel gazing species than humans, and we need more people with telescopes and wide views.

Do any other species even have navels?

Re: Why is Betelgeuse glowing so brightly and behaving so strangely?

#30

Post by tullianus »

BurningFrog wrote: post #29
prox wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it does I hope people will look to the stars more and reflect on their beautiful place in the universe. I can hardly envision a more navel gazing species than humans, and we need more people with telescopes and wide views.

Do any other species even have navels?

A few, yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placentalia
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