The was a major alarming report from FoxNews.com that Betelgeuse a giant star nearby had already become a red giant, which indicates it will explode and become a supernova. Many people become worried this would be a major dooms day event in 2012.
However now experts say it is not likely to happen soon and it will happen far enough away that it will not hurt Earth - hopefully...
US astronomer Phil Plait noted on his blog that a supernova would have to be no farther than 25 light years away to "fry us with light or anything else and Betelgeuse is 25 times that distance".
The story at www.news.com.au predicted that a giant explosion will occur, tens of millions of times brighter than the sun, and suggested the event could happen before 2012.
Terming the reports about the Betelgeuse's impending 2012 explosion as `pure conjuncture,' experts have elaborated that the fact that it has become a red giant are indications enough that its destined to explode and become a supernova; however, there is no reason to believe that the explosion will happen anytime in the near future.
Moreover, noting that the Betelgeuse's explosion, whenever it happens, will be so distant that it will not harm the Earth, US astronomer Phil Plait, who writes for Discovery News, said that a supernova would have to be no farther than 25 light years away to "fry us with light or anything else and Betelgeuse is 25 times that distance."
The conjecturing that the Betelgeuse will explode in 2012, and may even reach the Earth, was triggered by an Australian news site News. com. au story, which predicted that the star's massive explosion will be tens of millions of times brighter than the sun.
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However now experts say it is not likely to happen soon and it will happen far enough away that it will not hurt Earth - hopefully...
US astronomer Phil Plait noted on his blog that a supernova would have to be no farther than 25 light years away to "fry us with light or anything else and Betelgeuse is 25 times that distance".
The story at www.news.com.au predicted that a giant explosion will occur, tens of millions of times brighter than the sun, and suggested the event could happen before 2012.
Terming the reports about the Betelgeuse's impending 2012 explosion as `pure conjuncture,' experts have elaborated that the fact that it has become a red giant are indications enough that its destined to explode and become a supernova; however, there is no reason to believe that the explosion will happen anytime in the near future.
Moreover, noting that the Betelgeuse's explosion, whenever it happens, will be so distant that it will not harm the Earth, US astronomer Phil Plait, who writes for Discovery News, said that a supernova would have to be no farther than 25 light years away to "fry us with light or anything else and Betelgeuse is 25 times that distance."
The conjecturing that the Betelgeuse will explode in 2012, and may even reach the Earth, was triggered by an Australian news site News. com. au story, which predicted that the star's massive explosion will be tens of millions of times brighter than the sun.
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4 comments:
betelgeuse is a star in the orion constellation and is 640 light yrs from earth now a supernova explosion travels just under the speed of light aprox 90% now if this star exploded right this second we would not even see the flash of the supernova for 640 yrs from now and the shockwave over 1000 yrs from now, so no its not a threat at all
Unless, of course, it happened 640 years ago. Seriously, Betelgeuse is not a threat to earth. Its transition to a type II supernova will happen one day, but on a timescale that can't be predicted. Sometime within the next million years is the general best guess.
We currently see Betelgeuse as it was around 1370 ad. For earth to feel any effects of a supernova in 2012 the star would have to have exploded over 600 years ago.
All the comments said exactly what I was thinking...this is the dumbest thing I have ever read. Anyone with any education in astrophysics would know this is ridiculous. Enough said.
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