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Over here I post a ton of physics / math / general interesting science related posts. I try to be as informative as possible, all while posting fascinating things that hopefully enlighten us both a little to the mysteries of our truly wondrous universe(s?). Plus, how would you know if the blog exists or not unless you observe it? Boom, just pulled the Schrödinger’s cat card. Now you have to check it out - trust me, it said so in an equation somewhere.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

Earth Will One Day See a Second Sun Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star located in the Orion constellation, about 640 light-years away from Earth - is preparing to explode via a supernova. When it does, the Earth will have a front-row seat; in fact, the explosion will be so bright that Earth will seem to briefly have two suns in the sky.  Betelgeuse is one of the brightest and largest stars in our immediate galactic neighborhood - if you dropped it in our Solar System, it would extend all the way out to Jupiter, leaving Earth completely engulfed. In stellar terms, it’s predicted to explode in the very near future. Of course, the conversion from stellar to human terms is pretty extreme, as Betelgeuse is predicted to explode anytime in the next million years. But still, whether the explosion occurs in 2011 or 1002011 (give or take 640 years for the light to reach Earth), it’s going to make for one of the most unforgettable light shows in our planet’s history. For a few weeks, the supernova will be so bright that there will appear to be two stars in the sky, and night will be indistinguishable from day for much of that time. So don’t count on getting a lot of sleep when Betelgeuse explodes, because the only sensible thing for the world to do will be to throw a weeks-long global supernova party. Physicist Brad Carter explains what Earth (and hopefully humanity) can look forward to: “This is the final hurrah for the star. It goes bang, it explodes, it lights up - we’ll have incredible brightness for a brief period of time for a couple of weeks and then over the coming months it begins to fade and then eventually it will be very hard to see at all.” Although there’ll be no missing the explosion, Carter points out that the vast majority of material shot out from the supernova will pass by Earth completely unnoticed: “When a star goes bang, the first we will observe of it is a rain of tiny particles called neutrinos. They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever.” In any event, the Betelgeuse explosion will likely be the most dramatic supernova Earth ever witnesses - well, unless our Sun eventually explodes and destroys our planet, which would probably leave Betelgeuse the runner-up.

Earth Will One Day See a Second Sun

Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star located in the Orion constellation, about 640 light-years away from Earth - is preparing to explode via a supernova. When it does, the Earth will have a front-row seat; in fact, the explosion will be so bright that Earth will seem to briefly have two suns in the sky. 

Betelgeuse is one of the brightest and largest stars in our immediate galactic neighborhood - if you dropped it in our Solar System, it would extend all the way out to Jupiter, leaving Earth completely engulfed. In stellar terms, it’s predicted to explode in the very near future. Of course, the conversion from stellar to human terms is pretty extreme, as Betelgeuse is predicted to explode anytime in the next million years.

But still, whether the explosion occurs in 2011 or 1002011 (give or take 640 years for the light to reach Earth), it’s going to make for one of the most unforgettable light shows in our planet’s history. For a few weeks, the supernova will be so bright that there will appear to be two stars in the sky, and night will be indistinguishable from day for much of that time. So don’t count on getting a lot of sleep when Betelgeuse explodes, because the only sensible thing for the world to do will be to throw a weeks-long global supernova party.

Physicist Brad Carter explains what Earth (and hopefully humanity) can look forward to:

“This is the final hurrah for the star. It goes bang, it explodes, it lights up - we’ll have incredible brightness for a brief period of time for a couple of weeks and then over the coming months it begins to fade and then eventually it will be very hard to see at all.”

Although there’ll be no missing the explosion, Carter points out that the vast majority of material shot out from the supernova will pass by Earth completely unnoticed:

“When a star goes bang, the first we will observe of it is a rain of tiny particles called neutrinos. They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever.”

In any event, the Betelgeuse explosion will likely be the most dramatic supernova Earth ever witnesses - well, unless our Sun eventually explodes and destroys our planet, which would probably leave Betelgeuse the runner-up.

Novae Most people have at least a vague idea of what a supernova is - an incredibly luminous, energetic, radioactive explosion of a star. However, what about just a regular nova? While a supernova is caused by the star gaining additional energy from gravity - a nova is caused by the steady accretion of hydrogen, which begins the process of nuclear fusion.  A white dwarf star, when in proximity to a companion, will gradually garner hydrogen from the other star - which will build up and begin nuclear fusion within the dwarf star. This nuclear fusion is reckless, and is difficult to control. The enormous amount of energy caused by the rapid creation of heavy elements during fusion causes the star itself to explode - creating a burst of light and an expulsion of energy.

Novae

Most people have at least a vague idea of what a supernova is - an incredibly luminous, energetic, radioactive explosion of a star. However, what about just a regular nova? While a supernova is caused by the star gaining additional energy from gravity - a nova is caused by the steady accretion of hydrogen, which begins the process of nuclear fusion. 

A white dwarf star, when in proximity to a companion, will gradually garner hydrogen from the other star - which will build up and begin nuclear fusion within the dwarf star. This nuclear fusion is reckless, and is difficult to control. The enormous amount of energy caused by the rapid creation of heavy elements during fusion causes the star itself to explode - creating a burst of light and an expulsion of energy.

A Visible Twin Sun? It’s Possible Remember this scene from Star Wars - the binary star system that made two stars visible from the planet? According to Dr. Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, there could be a similar case for Earth quite soon! Okay okay, the chances of this actually happening are very, very slim - but the fun of it is that it’s possible!  One of the night sky’s brightest stars, Betelgeuse, is losing mass! Although not on a Jenny Craig diet, this is a clear sign to Astrophysicists that the star is collapsing - meaning that it could undergo a supernova at any time! If it were to happen, the explosion would be just as bright as the daytime sun, and the view would last for weeks! Additionally, the explosion would cause a harmless shower of neutrinos (those apparently faster than light ones) onto the planet. Carter said “They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever.” U.S. astronomer Phil Plait said that “Betelgeuse might go up tonight, or it might not be for 100,000 years. We’re just not sure.” But the fact is, it could happen at anytime, and it would be really, really awesome. Keep watching. 

A Visible Twin Sun? It’s Possible

Remember this scene from Star Wars - the binary star system that made two stars visible from the planet? According to Dr. Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, there could be a similar case for Earth quite soon! Okay okay, the chances of this actually happening are very, very slim - but the fun of it is that it’s possible! 

One of the night sky’s brightest stars, Betelgeuse, is losing mass! Although not on a Jenny Craig diet, this is a clear sign to Astrophysicists that the star is collapsing - meaning that it could undergo a supernova at any time! If it were to happen, the explosion would be just as bright as the daytime sun, and the view would last for weeks! Additionally, the explosion would cause a harmless shower of neutrinos (those apparently faster than light ones) onto the planet. Carter said “They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever.”

U.S. astronomer Phil Plait said that “Betelgeuse might go up tonight, or it might not be for 100,000 years. We’re just not sure.” But the fact is, it could happen at anytime, and it would be really, really awesome. Keep watching. 

(Source: The Huffington Post)

We are all stardust. 

We are all stardust.