#SKARPSALLING VESSEL MEANING FULL#
It's estimated it will brighten to a magnitude of -10, which (for reference) is sixteen times the brightness of the full Moon, and over a hundred times the brightness of the planet Venus. If Betelgeuse went supernova - no, correction, when Betelgeuse goes supernova - it's going to be spectacular. But you can bet that the astrophysicists are paying close attention.Īnd with good reason. Like I said, we've never been able to observe the events leading up to a supernova before. Now, we still don't know what's going to happen. It merited a press release from the Villanova University Department of Astronomy three weeks ago, so even the astronomers - ordinarily the most cautious of scientists - are admitting that something's up. What's certain is that this is unprecedented, at least since we've kept detailed records. So what the leadup will look like, we aren't really sure. Supernovae are uncommon events, and nearby ones nearly unheard of - the last one was " Kepler's Star," the 1604 supernova in the constellation of Ophiuchus. But in the last few months, it's defied expectations, dimming to a magnitude of +1.3 and dropping to 23rd place on the list of brightest stars.Ĭould this herald the beginnings of the collapse that initiates the supernova? Could be, but the truth is, we don't know.
This means it oscillates between being the fifth brightest star in the night sky and the tenth, with the period of its variation averaging at a little over a year. It's long been known as a variable star, varying in magnitude between about 0.0 and +0.5 (the bigger the number, the fainter the star). The star has been exhibiting some odd behavior lately. But its recent behavior has made a lot of scientists wonder if the actual date of the explosion might not be closer to the "tomorrow" end of the spectrum than we'd thought. Asked when it's going to explode, though, astronomers have always played it cagey could be tomorrow, could be a hundred thousand years from now. If Betelgeuse replaced the Sun, we here on the Earth would be inside the star.īetelgeuse has long been known as one of the better supernova candidates that are relatively close by. However, volume-wise, it's enormous if you put Betelgeuse where the Sun is, its edge would be somewhere between the orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. A red supergiant, the star is about eleven times the mass of the Sun (putting it in the "neutron star" range after it blows itself to smithereens). It's called Betelgeuse, and it's the familiar star on Orion's right shoulder. The exploded remnants continue to glow brightly for several months, before finally cooling, fading, and disappearing from the night sky.Īs it happens, we've got a good candidate for a supernova not too far away (well, 640 light years away, which isn't exactly next door, but is still close by astronomical standards). The collapsed core of the star then becomes either a neutron star or a black hole, depending on the star's initial mass. (Just as a clarification, I'm talking about planets in other star systems if there were planets in the supernova's system, they'd be instantaneously vaporized.) Actually, "outshine" is the wrong word nearby star systems would be flash-fried, and even at a relatively safe distance the high-energy electromagnetic radiation could severely damage a planet's atmosphere. The result is a supernova, which temporarily outshines everything else in the near vicinity. When the star runs out of fuel, the heat diminishes, and gravity wins - causing a sudden collapse and a phenomenally quick heating of the star's atmosphere. Stars are kept in equilibrium by two forces, the outward pressure of the heat produced by fusion in the core, and the inward pull of gravity. The colossal explosion is set off by the exhaustion of the fuel in the star's core, a phenomenon that deserves a little more explanation. There'd be nothing like a good supernova to liven things up around here.įar and away the most spectacular event in the universe, a supernova of a massive star releases more energy in a few seconds than our Sun will release in its entire lifetime. A very Happy New Year to all of you, and I hope this century's Roaring Twenties bring you everything you desire! The next Skeptophilia post will be Monday, January 6. However, I hope you'll continue to send me ideas for new posts - I'll be back in the saddle again soon, and I always value your suggestions.
I'm going to be taking a short break next week.
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