goodbye betelgeuse

[EBodious]

i think this is pretty darn cool.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...=feeds-newsxml

my son was asking me the other nite if we would ever see a supernova happen, and how cool it would be. i agreed, but i didn't know that time was running out for betelgeuse.

it would be so way cool if it happened in my lifetime. i can't imagine what it would look like!

[bassybill]

Well, don't hold your breath. Being alive to see this happen is about as likely as winning the lottery. But I agree that it would certainly be a sight to behold.

It might already have happened, without us being able to find out until a few hundred years have passed.

And don't forget to pause for a moment to pay your respects to Ford Prefect's people.

[EBodious]

Originally Posted by bassybill

And don't forget to pause for a moment to pay your respects to Ford Prefect's people.

yes, it would be a tragic loss. or already was a tragic loss...

[Mark Wilson]

Sweet!
I freggin love Star Wars.

[username n/a]

Wait, Betelgeuse is a real thing?

[Von Felgenhauer]

Lol Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy is the BEST book ever

[EBodious]

Originally Posted by username n/a

Wait, Betelgeuse is a real thing?

lordy-loo, boy, i hope you are joking.





if not, wikipedia is your friend

[geeza]

Originally Posted by EBodious

if not, wikipedia school is your friend

Fixed.

[Cabazon]

It's hardly news to say that something might happen within the next million years.

[fdeck]

If it's going to be that bright to the eye, I wonder how much toxic radiation it will spit out.

[Schlyder]

Technically, by the time you saw the light from the supernova, you would have actually missed the event. You would be seeing the light after it traveled many light years to reach your eye.

Glayvin gloyvin

[bassrique]

Don't some supernovas send out two concentrated "death rays" from it's poles?

[chi-town_mike]

There is one that its beam is in close approximation to earth. Unless Dr. Michio Kaku says we're doomed..It'll just be another Kodak moment. <---- iphone moment.

[fdeck]

Originally Posted by Schlyder

Technically, by the time you saw the light from the supernova, you would have actually missed the event. You would be seeing the light after it traveled many light years to reach your eye.

That's right. What it means is that concepts such as "before" and "after" are relative to where you sit and how fast you're going.

[Mark Wilson]

Originally Posted by Schlyder

Technically, by the time you saw the light from the supernova, you would have actually missed the event. You would be seeing the light after it traveled many light years to reach your eye.

Glayvin gloyvin

Frink is my fave character.
Just laughed out loud.

[Bassman316]

I think it'd be ultra-gnarly to wake up one morning and see two suns... but these guys evidently aren't buying it.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2376132,00.asp

[poorbassist15]

Originally Posted by bassrique

Don't some supernovas send out two concentrated "death rays" from it's poles?

Well, if the star is big enough, then yes. If it is as big as it needs to be to create the death rays, then it can also become a black hole. By the time you saw the supernova, the gamma rays(death rays) would have arrived with the light from the explosion, and you would be dead. If it's close enough the black hole that would ensue would kill you anyway.

Space, it's a helluva thing, isn't it?

[machine gewehr]

Originally Posted by poorbassist15

Well, if the star is big enough, then yes. If it is as big as it needs to be to create the death rays, then it can also become a black hole. By the time you saw the supernova, the gamma rays(death rays) would have arrived with the light from the explosion, and you would be dead. If it's close enough the black hole that would ensue would kill you anyway.

Space, it's a helluva thing, isn't it?

Even if it happens "right now" (if it hasn't already) we're going to have to wait ~640 lightyears to see the event.Don't see why people are excited about it.

But maybe,it exploded 639.999999 light years ago and...hold on a sec. the sky's so bright that I need to pull the curtains...

[PSPookie]

It is probable that a supernova is currently visible from earth; the problem is that the cosmos are vast and one would need to know where to look.

Let's just hope that when this does happen we're not on Betlegeuse's rotational axis.

[EBodious]

Originally Posted by Cabazon

It's hardly news to say that something might happen within the next million years.

you don't like long goodbyes?