If it goes full blast or even close to full, it will definetely outshine SN1987A as pointed out by vogon13. I think it will be dramatic but not overly so because it is still relatively far away. I could be wrong of course because nobody really knows.<br /><br />One point of reference I use is the Crab nebula which was recorded as a nova in 1054 by Chinese astronomers. It was recorded as being visible in daylight for nearly a month and brighter than Venus. It was brighter at night than normal for around 2 years and seing how it occured roughly 7,000 years ago (The nebula is 6,000+ Ly distant), that would be over ten times Betels distance. I do not know if any details were recorded on just how much of a daytime event the Crab nova was. Was it just a pinpoint of light you had to struggle to see? Was it bright enough to cast shadows? I do not know. I also try to imagine what would happen if Sirius were to go supernova and that would be dramatic at its 8.7 Ly distance. Probably cast easy to see shadows, the expanding star atmosphere may even make it visible as a pinhead sized disc held at arms length. The radiation however, would probably be enough to kill surface lifeforms on planets within 20 Ly of the event.<br /><br />Then theres Eta Carinae at roughly 7,500 Ly away. This star had a brightening event in 1830 and again in 2001 which suggested to me that stars go nova in stages. Eta Car may be in a kind of pre nova stage. Some astronomers hypothesize Eta Car as being a potential hypernova and though its nearly a thousand times as distant as Sirius, it could put on quite the show although you'd have to be in the southern hemisphere to see it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><strong>My borrowed quote for the time being:</strong></p><p><em>There are three kinds of people in life. Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen...and those who do not know what happened.</em></p> </div>