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Will Betelgeuse really become a second sun in 2012?
Scientists discount the idea that Betelgeuse star will be as bright as another sun, saying it will resemble the brightness of a crescent moon.
Thu, Jan 27 2011 at 4:22 PM
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SOON TO BE A SUN?: The supergiant star Betelgeuse has a vast plume of gas almost as large as our Solar System and a gigantic bubble boiling on its surface, shown in this artist's impression. (Illustration: L.Calcada/ESO)
Several online news sites, including the Huffington Post, have reported that the star Betelgeuse will undergo a supernova explosion next year — yes, that's 2012 — and shine as brightly in the sky as a second sun.
But according to scientists, it's all nonsense.
"Betelgeuse is losing mass, and it will turn into a supernova soon, but that 'soon' means on an astronomical time scale: It's as likely to happen a million years from now as it is tomorrow," University of Illinois astronomer Jim Kaler told Life's Little Mysteries, a sister site of SPACE.com.
No one knows quite when Betelgeuse, which is about 10 to 20 times more massive than our sun, will explode. But when it does detonate, the star, which forms the constellation Orion's right shoulder, won't look like a second sun in our sky, Kaler said.
"The supernova would hit somewhere around the brightness of a crescent moon," said Kaler, who has focused his research on dying stars since the 1950s. "It would definitely be visible in full daylight, and it would cast shadows. It might scare the crap out of people to be honest, but it would be nowhere near as bright as the sun."
And there isn't any reason to be afraid of this particular star explosion.
When a star goes supernova, it blasts a huge amount of matter and radiation outward through space. If such an event were to happen within 30 light-years from here, it would significantly damage the Earth's ozone layer and cause mass extinctions. One light-year is the distance that light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).
Some supernovas produce gamma-ray bursts as well, which are intense and dangerous blasts of radiation. But Betelgeuse is about 600 light-years away — too far away to threaten Earth — and it will become what scientists describe as a "core-collapse type II supernova."
"Those definitely don't produce gamma-ray bursts," said Kaler.
So what will happen when Betelgeuse explodes — whenever that may be?
"Well, it will make a God-awful mess of the constellation Orion," remarked Kaler.
This article was reprinted with permission from SPACE.com.
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If betelgeuse star will becoming a sun soon, what happen to our sorroundings and the ozone layer will totally damage cause of it's high radiation,can we still planting trees of this situation? What to the MOTHER NATURE???
nothing, the star is 645 light years away. and according to scientists it wont be a permanent second sun..the second light would only last for a few weeks at the most, eventually fade, and soon you wont be able to see it at all. there are supposedly supposed to be neutrons packed with energy from the explosion that will reach earth and hit us, but we wont even know, it wont cause any harm.