View Single Post
  #5  
Old 30-04-2010, 02:39 PM
PeterM
Registered User

PeterM is offline
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 1,998
If we are indeed (extremely) lucky in our lifetimes and we are to witness a Supernova in the MilkyWay then Eta Carinae would be a great candidate.
Since brightening back in around the late 1830s to early 1840s (it became as bright as about Sirius) it then faded to something like mag 8, I think and its brightness has been climbing since. Being estimated at 100-150 times the mass of the Sun then I guess if it goes, it goes Hypernova and at around 7500 light years away would certainly put on a nice show.
This is perhaps the most monitored star in the heavens both by professionals, amateur imagers and visual observers alike (see the links below).
Over the years I have often heard Kevin Dixon (SAS in Qld) talk of a brightening of the envelope that surrounds the star, people doubted him even when they looked at it , only to be followed by official confirmation on various sites of what he was seeing. So who knows, heck I haven't seen the sky in weeks. So maybe Suzy you have just seen the trailers so to speak before the main event, put me down for a ticket right in the front row. But don't observe it through a telescope as I understand from reading someones posts here a while ago its' concentrated laser like light would apparently be blinding, must find that post and use it as a programme of what to expect....let the show begin, on time please!

PeterM.

Radio outburst
http://www.astro.umd.edu/~white/imag...time_full.html

Optical monitoring

http://etacar.fcaglp.unlp.edu.ar/
Reply With Quote