Betelgeuse goes Supernova

Wolfshadw

Moderator
Betelgeuse is about 700 light years from Earth. That means that if it went supernova, it would take 700 years for the light from that explosion to arrive and been seen on Earth. Until that happens, we won't know if or if not the star has exploded.

I do not think that the star going supernova will affect Earth in any way.

-Wolf sends
 
Being facetious!:

Do you mean that there is a universe that exists (that there are universes that exist) where things happen before we here and now on Earth will observe them to happen?! That a "future histories future light cone" exists that could possibly be traveled unobserved by Einstein's observer standing next to a railroad track on Earth?!

Naawww! That could mean faster than light travel! As it is, a traveler's 700 year travel to the vicinity of Betelgeuse from Earth would be observed by the Earth observer to have taken 1400 years (a travel observed at half the speed of light) . . . though the traveler would be observed to have aged not all (time having stopped dead on the traveler's ship clock) in that 1400 years it took arrival in the vicinity of Betelgeuse to be observed -- per the speed of light -- by the Earth observer. Photo-electric physics of light's travel itself! don't you know.

Of course the Earth observer must observe the above as it happens by all those other bullets of light and light's past histories past light cone coordinate points SPACETIME flying into the overall picture of universe from everywhere -- shrinking the traveler and traveler's locality to lilliputian magnitudes, and pointedly smaller, in an accelerating expanse of universe's fabric of....

Oh well! I shouldn't be painting pictures more dimensional than 2-dimensional, or more probably greater than 1-dimensional, should I?!
 
Maybe I didn't make something as clear as I should have! ",,,. As it is, a traveler's 700 year travel to the vicinity of Betelgeuse from Earth would be observed by the Earth observer to have taken 1400 years (a travel observed at half the speed of light, thus, Betelgeuse 1324OCE (Betelgeuse from Earth 2024OCE) plus 700 years to Betelgeuse 2024OCE from Earth 2724OCE, plus 700 more years for the light of arrival at Betelgeuse 2724OCE (REALTIME Betelgeuse) to reach Earth 3424OCE (Thus 1400 years from traveler's departure Earth 2024OCE (Betelgeuse 2724OCE at relative observation from REALTIME Earth 3424OCE)))) . . . though the traveler would be observed to have aged not at all (time having stopped dead (2024OCE) on the traveler's ship clock if witnessed by the Earth observer, Earth 3424OCE) ...."

I had to edit and edit again to get the speed of light and times straight in my own picture since the constant of the speed of light makes it a multi-dimensional picture of time(s), spontaneous concurrent REALTIME and light's coordinate points' SPACETIME). The speed of light is slow over all distance gaining, real slow (-300,000kps), falling more and ever more to the rear in time in enclosure of the apparent accelerating expansion (accelerating opening) of universe . . . to end up finally at the collapsed cosmological constant (/\) of P/BB 'Mirror Horizon'! Betelgeuse 1324OCE to Sol 2024OCE. Andromeda -2.5 million years to Milky Way's '0' ( https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/galaxy-next-door/ ). And so on and on, past histories past light cone versus (equal and opposed to) future histories future light cone.
 
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Nov 24, 2022
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We are still waiting for this to happen but as it is over 600 light years away it could have happened anytime in the past 600 odd years and we still haven't seen it. Keep looking up but personally as I do astrophotgraphy I hope it will not be visible soon.
 
Jan 6, 2025
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Has Betelgeuse gone Supernova already?

How long will it tale light from there to reach Earth?

Will the explosion effect Earth in any way?

Betelgeuse is about 700 light years from Earth. That means that if it went supernova, it would take 700 years for the light from that explosion to arrive and been seen on Earth. Until that happens, we won't know if or if not the star has exploded.

I do not think that the star going supernova will affect Earth in any way.

-Wolf sends
As wolf has said, Betelgeuse is significantly far from Earth that if it suffered a core collapse (Type II) supernova and the "information" reached us, for arguments sake, tomorrow, the only impact on Earth would be the reaction of some charged particles interacting with the upper atmosphere, billions of trillion of neutrinoes passing harmlessly through us and the planet, and a bright light show in the sky that may be visible in daylight for many months but would certainly be the brightest object in the night sky, after the Moon, for 2-3 months until it faded.

The distance to Betelgeuse is hotly debated, some earlier Hipparchus estimates (satellite not the Greek) suggested it was only ~ 126 parsecs (~420 light years) away, other, later, estimates using radio astrometry coupled to the Hipparchus data now suggests the star is perhaps as far as 197 parsecs (~621 light years) away. The sad part is the the most precise distance measuring satellite launched, Gaia, cannot look at Betelgeuse because it is too bright and would damage the sensors. Some early estimates suggested that Betelgeuse is a lot close than thought, that its size is over estimated and this is causing a miscalculation. Even the Hipparchus data has farely substantial error bars in it that give distances of 108 parsecs to 151 parsecs (352ly to 492.25ly), however, the most accurate data suggested the figure already given and this is what was accepted. You will often see figures quoted in excess of 215 parsecs (700 light years), but this is from old data that is now accepted to be incorrect, with most scholors settling on the ~190 parsec (620 light year) distance.

As long as no supernova erupts within about 15 light years of the solar system then we are OK, and there are no stars within 130 lights years that are capable of any type of supernova eruption. IK Pegasi is the closest star to Earth that is likely to erupt as a supernova, it is currently in the white dwarf phase so would be a type Ia, however, it is currently some 40 parsecs (130ly) from Earth, and due to orbital velocities around the galaxy, by the time it erupts, the solar system and it will be several thousand light years apart.
 
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I wouldn't count on estimates of mass and distance of such explosions and radiations. The very first emissions, gamma, might be a bi-beam. And rotating.

This could decrease or increase those estimates. And the danger.

I would want more clearance.
 
Jan 6, 2025
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I wouldn't count on estimates of mass and distance of such explosions and radiations. The very first emissions, gamma, might be a bi-beam. And rotating.

This could decrease or increase those estimates. And the danger.

I would want more clearance.
As the estimates are grounded in REAL science that has been proved correct on, literally, thousands of occasions, I would suggest not dwelling on it too much.
 

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