Wolfgang Korsus Dipl.-Ing.NT, Astrophysiker
Klingenberg 40
D-25451 Quickborn
Mobil 01625680456 FNetz 0410669295
Website : wolfgang.korsus.net
Dear reader !
The two-part headline can be confusing. What does the star „Beteigeuze“ have to do with a supernova? ….and what does the moon look for in the text of the heading ?
Let’s start with an explanation.
Beteigeuze is one of the brightest stars in our night sky. But it is astronomers who have now observed unusual behavior of the supergiant. Already at least since October the so-called „left shoulder star“ of the constellation Orion has clearly, in a negative effect, lost brightness.
I say quite simply, one of the brightest stars in the night sky has got a remarkable weakness. Because its previously perceived luminosity has strongly decreased. Assuming it would explode as a supernova, it would be visible in the sky as bright as a „full moon“.
As already mentioned, Beteigeuze in the constellation Orion and in general it was one of the brightest stars in our night sky so far.
If we speak of brightness, then this can be explained more understandably by the Express luminosity or better compare it with our sun. It is about 54,000 times larger than our sun.
But what has happened ! The giant star has lost its luminosity dramatically in the last weeks. In the ranking procedure (i.e. the ranking of the brightest stars) Betelgeuse fell from the sixth to the 20th place. This could even be seen with the naked eye.
I conclude from the reduced luminosity: the death of the star is imminent!
What does this mean in the case of the „supergiant Beteigeuze“, which is 700 times the diameter of our sun? There is a gigantic supernova explosion and today’s star is turning into a neutron star or a black hole.
Some scientific data about the star that still exists : Beteigeuze is an Arabic name, and means – „hand of the giantess“ –
The distance from the earth is about 640 light years. Beteigeuze is one of the brightest stars in our night sky – it is absolutely no wonder:
After all, the „red supergiant“ has a diameter around 700 times that of our sun and a luminosity in visible light ten thousand times greater than that of the sun. The „red supergiant“ is entering and approaching the end of its life cycle. We do not know when the end will really happen. It may end with a supernova sometime in the next 100,000 years. – possibly even a double explosion.
The star is closer to our planet than has ever been visible in human history.
That’s why some scientists say something different :
If a star explodes at a distance of up to ten light years, at least half of humanity will be wiped out“. The immediate burst of radiation lasts only a few hours, but half of the Earth, which then happens to look in the direction of a supernova, could be grilled by the neutrons and gamma radiation. This would result in „humanity surviving on the opposite side of our planet“. ……..all just speculation !!!!!
I say:
„the explosion of Beteigeuze would be a gigantic and not to be overlooked celestial spectacle“…….for the human being !