January 21, 201115 yr Two Suns? Twin Stars Could Be Visible From Earth By 2012 Earth could be getting a second sun, at least temporarily. Dr. Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, outlined the scenario to news.com.au. Betelgeuse, one of the night sky's brightest stars, is losing mass, indicating it is collapsing. It could run out of fuel and go super-nova at any time. When that happens, for at least a few weeks, we'd see a second sun, Carter says. There may also be no night during that timeframe. The Star Wars-esque scenario could happen by 2012, Carter says... or it could take longer. The explosion could also cause a neutron star or result in the formation of a black hole 1300 light years from Earth, reports news.com.au. But doomsday sayers should be careful about speculation on this one. If the star does go super-nova, Earth will be showered with harmless particles, according to Carter. "They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever," he told news.com.au.
January 21, 201115 yr Author My favorite part about this story is that it could explode this year... or anytime in the next million years.
January 21, 201115 yr The Star Wars-esque scenario could happen by 2012 How is this Star Wars-esque? QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 10:51 PM) F'in A Cotton. F'in A. What?
January 21, 201115 yr Wait a minute... Betalgeuse is 640 light years away. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that the light we observe from the star is light from 640ish years ago? Because I have a hard time believing that light from a super nova can eclipse the speed of...well...light.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 10:29 PM) WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!! Actually, that sounds pretty badass. All day, every day. For two weeks. I would love that.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 10:32 PM) All day, every day. For two weeks. I would love that. It would totally be like that Seinfeld episode about Kenny Rogers Roasters. No sleep, I'm going on no sleep.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 10:26 PM) How is this Star Wars-esque? What? Pretty sure the second one was a Jason Bateman reference from Dodgeball.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 11:26 PM) How is this Star Wars-esque? I assumed it was a reference to the twin suns of Tatooine, as originally seen in Ep IV
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (chw42 @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 11:31 PM) Wait a minute... Betalgeuse is 640 light years away. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mean that the light we observe from the star is light from 640ish years ago? Because I have a hard time believing that light from a super nova can eclipse the speed of...well...light. I believe you are correct, and the explosion will witness at some point in the future may well have happened centuries ago.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 01:08 AM) I believe you are correct, and the explosion will witness at some point in the future may well have happened centuries ago. There is no "I believe" about it. If that star is 640 light years away, then we're observing things that happened 640 years ago.
January 21, 201115 yr Awesome stuff. Astronomy has been my favorite thing to learn and read about since I can remember. I actually re-read Hawking's A Brief History of Time this past fall. Amazing things happen out there, probably more than the mind can comprehend at this point.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (SoxFanForever @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 12:14 AM) Pretty sure the second one was a Jason Bateman reference from Dodgeball. Ah, I knew that seemed familiar. QUOTE (FlaSoxxJim @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 01:06 AM) I assumed it was a reference to the twin suns of Tatooine, as originally seen in Ep IV That makes sense. I thought they were just throwing out Star Wars simply because it's happening in space.
January 21, 201115 yr Author QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 09:11 AM) Awesome stuff. Astronomy has been my favorite thing to learn and read about since I can remember. I actually re-read Hawking's A Brief History of Time this past fall. Amazing things happen out there, probably more than the mind can comprehend at this point. I havent read that book in a long time. I should pull it off the shelves and re-read it too.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 07:53 AM) There is no "I believe" about it. If that star is 640 light years away, then we're observing things that happened 640 years ago. The explosion could also cause a neutron star or result in the formation of a black hole 1300 light years from Earth, reports news.com.au. So, if the star is only 640 light years away, why would it form a black hole 1300 light years away? Someone suggested that Stephen Hawking book to me a while ago. Has anyone else read it? Is it that good? I might swing by Borders tonight and pick it up. I need more things to do while waiting on spring training.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 11:44 AM) So, if the star is only 640 light years away, why would it form a black hole 1300 light years away? The distance to this star is actually quite poorly known. Calculating distances in space is a difficult process sometimes. You sorta do it by measuring the angle to the star from 2 different points in Earth's orbit and doing some geometry. But, this star is troublesome because it has an odd shape (possibly due to a very large and persistent sunspot), because it appears to have a very large velocity in an odd direction, and because its size actually appears to be varying with time. The difference between 640 light years and 1300 light years is who's estimate for the distance is being used.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 20, 2011 -> 10:26 PM) How is this Star Wars-esque? What? Dodgeball quote.
January 21, 201115 yr Hoping no one here took too much from the SMH article, but just in case they did. The article kicks off by equating Betelgeuse's impending explosion with the "twin suns" on Tatooine, the world where Star Wars' Luke Skywaker lived. In Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke watches the setting binary stars of Tatoo. When Betelgeuse goes supernova, will it really shine as bright as our sun, perhaps giving us that famous double-sun scene from Star Wars? That's a nice thought, but 640 light-years is still quite a distance, and although when it does blow astronomers think we'll be able to see the explosion for some weeks during the day -- still a very impressive and historic event -- that's a far cry from thinking a sun-supernova combo could resemble any binary star system. But the biggest issue to come out of this article is the ominous and completely erroneous mention of... wait for it... 2012. "The infamous red super-giant star in Orion’s nebula -- Betelgeuse -- is predicted to go gangbusters and the impending super-nova may reach Earth before 2012, and when it does, all of our wildest Star Wars dreams will come true," the article says. .... But what's all this fuss about the star exploding by 2012? That's complete garbage. There is absolutely no indication that the star will explode in the next year or so. Even the most advanced telescopes and sophisticated computer models cannot predict an exploding star with that precision! By the article's own admission, the supernova might not happen for a million years -- begging the question as to why a half-baked 2012 Betelgeuse doomsday theory is even being mentioned. Betelgeuse is a fascinating star, but don't be concerned about its planet-killing ability. It's too far away and it might not go "gangbusters" for another million years.
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 08:53 AM) There is no "I believe" about it. If that star is 640 light years away, then we're observing things that happened 640 years ago. Yeah, I was demure in my response because I didn't want to come off sounding like a braniac knowitall. Don't you just hate those posters?
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (Swingandalongonetoleft @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 09:11 AM) Awesome stuff. Astronomy has been my favorite thing to learn and read about since I can remember. I actually re-read Hawking's A Brief History of Time this past fall. Amazing things happen out there, probably more than the mind can comprehend at this point. Skimming the thread I initially read this as "Hawk's A Brief History of Time." Then imagined how ridiculous a book actually written by Hawk labeled "A Brief History of Time" would be.
January 21, 201115 yr Author QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 04:05 PM) Skimming the thread I initially read this as "Hawk's A Brief History of Time." Then imagined how ridiculous a book actually written by Hawk labeled "A Brief History of Time" would be. That would be HYSTERICAL to read
January 21, 201115 yr QUOTE (IlliniKrush @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 04:05 PM) Skimming the thread I initially read this as "Hawk's A Brief History of Time." Then imagined how ridiculous a book actually written by Hawk labeled "A Brief History of Time" would be. It would start with a chapter on Ted Williams
January 21, 201115 yr "And... the Splendid Splinter said, 'Hey, I bet I can hit that SuperNova with the next pitch.'" "'Mr. Williams, you're dadgum right you can,' I said after I got done washing his laundry."
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