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Betelgeuse Fades More
- Filligree 7y agoI've heard of a lot more variable stars over the last few years, all of them having unusually low dips. The explanation is simple--I'm noticing now, and I didn't before--but it's amusing to imagine there's some other reasons. Aliens building Dyson swarms, whatever. Never mind that the timeline doesn't work out...
- downrightmike 7y agoMore likely better telescopes
- Aperocky 7y agoOr an increase in carbon soot in the stars atmosphere. Or unstable core configurations that shortly precludes going supernova.
- tyfon 7y agoI always look at Betelgeuse when I am out walking an it's a clear sky. It's very easy to spot and you can pick out the colour difference with the naked eye. I hope it will go supernova in my lifetime, it will be spectacular. This dimming might be a sign of that.
- WizardAustralis 7y agoThere is a fella on the radio weekly here in Aus (and the BBC), Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. I always liked his take on it, "Could blow up any time between next Tuesday and 10,000 years from now. Don't worry about it."
- 0xFFFE 7y agoMay be it's gone supernova already.
- saagarjha 7y agoIt’s possible but reasonably unlikely.
- LeifCarrotson 7y agoIt's 'only' 642 light years away, if that's what you're referring to.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- Aperocky 7y agoNot on my spacetime.
- perl4ever 7y agoSome say it's better to regard anything with a lightlike separation as being simultaneous and that things with a spacelike separation essentially don't exist for practical purposes. So when the light reaches us is when it happens, because not even gravity can affect us beforehand.
- 0xFFFE 7y agoConvenient perhaps, but the engineer in me doesn't want to accept that. Light is the fastest thing in the universe and it takes 642 years to reach us from this particular star. So we are lagging by 642 years. Those are the facts.
- 0max 7y agoI was thinking it was a transit of some other celestial object in front of our vision.
- dr_zoidberg 7y agoToo much dimming to be a transit. Betelgeuse is so large that we can map its "surface"[0] and even planets in our own solar system are so small[1] that something so large to cause such a substantial dimming would have been detected a long time ago. [0] see this from 2017 https://www.space.com/37344-alma-captures-clearest-image-of-betelgeuse.html https://www.space.com/37344-alma-captures-clearest-image-of-... [1] Jupiter is about the largest a planet can be, in the current conditions of our solar system -- that means Jupiter was larger when it was younger, but it's been cooling off and reducing its volume
- bnjmn 7y agoMy thoughts as well!
- antonvs 7y ago> I hope it will go supernova in my lifetime The inhabitants of any planets in the vicinity might disagree.
- Kronopath 7y agoFYI, if you want a few hours notice before (the very unlikely event of) a Betelgeuse supernova, there’s a mailing list you can join: https://snews.bnl.gov/alert.html https://snews.bnl.gov/alert.html
- tabtab 7y agoRe: I hope it will go supernova in my lifetime, it will be spectacular. It could bleep up satellites and communication lines, nobody really knows. Be careful what you wish for. If Yellowstone and Betelgeuse go off at the same time, we are the New Dinosaurs.
- pvg 7y agoSome historical context and interesting references, including a recent estimate on the supernova timeframe: https://twitter.com/EricMamajek/status/1208176941502590976 https://twitter.com/EricMamajek/status/1208176941502590976
- rwmj 7y agoFascinating, but I think the most interesting thing was: > "Centuries later [than the original text from 964AD] in Europe, a scribe mistransliterated Arabic Y in Yad al-Jauza' to B & rest is history".
- JulianMorrison 7y agoSo wait, you're telling me it's actually Yeetlejuice?
- dylan604 7y agoAcutally, its Yeezyjuice
- anonymfus 7y agoTIL that in English Betelgeuse is pronounced like Beetlejuice. In Russian for example it's more like Be-tel-geyser (like British geyser).
- pvg 7y agoI'm not so sure British geyser is really pronounced with a гей. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/geyser https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/ge...
- jameshart 7y agoConfused me to read "Betelgeuse is the bright red star below the "saucepan" of Orion." - Orion doesn't have a 'saucepan', he has a sword, and Betelgeuse is at the top of.. oh, wait a minute... Went back to check. Yup, this blogger is in Australia. Just something to keep in mind if you're following his observation tips :)
- WizardAustralis 7y agoI will consider this pay back for all the astronomy information I read through only to realize they are talking North Hemisphere. When I got my telescope (Equatorial Reflector) the first thing the manual talks about is "Find the North Star" - Good luck doing that at 47 degrees South Latitude. Will have to take a gander tonight and see what Betelgeuse is up to.
- dr_zoidberg 7y agoAs another southern hemisphere dweller, I feel you. It's incredible what an impressive amount of astronomical information is only availabe with a northern hemisphere point of view, and it's down on us to take care of "translating" it to our location. Even more so when you consider the huge telescopes that have been/are being built in Chile by Europe.
- WizardAustralis 7y agoI chose to think we have the exclusive view of the south that the north misses out on. ;)
- mihaaly 7y agoAny recent change in the method of measurements?