A bit concerned

[Baron von Richthofen (Vaclav)]

The giant sun Betelgeuse which has a diameter of approximately 744,000,000 miles and approaching the end of its short life of several million years and only 640 light years away I am wondering when it supernova which will be clearly seen with the unaided eye, even in daylight, will it cause a mass extension on earth

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by Vars191

The giant sun Betelgeuse which has a diameter of approximately 8AU and approaching the end of its short life of several million years and only 640 light years away I am wondering when it supernova which will be clearly seen with the unaided eye, even in daylight, will it cause a mass extension on earth

No...too far away. Have to be at least 30ly away before we'd have to worry about that.

It'll just put on a fantastic fireworks display

[rogerg (Roger)]

Originally Posted by Vars191

The giant sun Betelgeuse....

I'd be concerned too if the Sun was Betelgeuse

[sjastro]

I'd be more concerned about Sirius B the white dwarf companion star of Sirius.

If Sirius B is extracting mass from the main star it could be a candidate for a type I supernova, and it's only 8.6 light years away.

Regards

Steven

[pgc hunter]

Would Sirius be massive enough for a supernova?

[starlooker (Duc)]

Never fear, the USA will save the earth's bacon, like in the movies.

[erick (Eric)]

That's interesting re Sirius. I guess the mass change would be picked up through changes in orbital period? Or is that a centre-of-mass thing and won't be affected? Perhaps then, relative magnitudes?

[renormalised (Carl)]

No, it's only 2 solar masses. Stars need to be between 8-11 before they're big enough to go off as supernovae. Why the size range??. Depends on what happens to the stars of that size late in life...specifically, how much mass they have left over after the AGB stage. If the core accumulates more than 1.4 solar masses of material, then they're destined to become supernovae. If it falls short, then you get a rare type of white dwarf called a Oxygen-Neon White Dwarf...very small, very heavy.

I don't think Sirius B is in a tight enough orbit to be collecting mass from Sirius itself (it's a 50 year orbit), but if it was, and it was collecting it at a high enough rate, then you could get a Type I supernova going off. If it went off tomorrow, we'd be toast...literally.

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by starlooker

Never fear, the USA will save the earth's bacon, like in the movies.

Hopefully all the world's lamb, beef and pork will be saved aswell.

However, if all the vegetables on Earth were destroyed, I'd be extremely happy and would call for a massive BBQ and booze party.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by pgc hunter

Hopefully all the world's lamb, beef and pork will be saved aswell.

However, if all the vegetables on Earth were destroyed, I'd be extremely happy and would call for a massive BBQ and booze party.

See your location listed in the header....that's what would happen to this planet. I'm afraid even if the bacon, lamb, beef, chicken and fish survived, you'd be eating "glow in the dark" meat that'd probably have extra legs and God knows what else attached to it!!!

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by renormalised

See your location listed in the header....that's what would happen to this planet. I'm afraid even if the bacon, lamb, beef, chicken and fish survived, you'd be eating "glow in the dark" meat that'd probably have extra legs and God knows what else attached to it!!!

As long as it's meat I'm happy The glow-in-the-darkness would make it easier to see while cooking it at my evening BBQ party

[renormalised (Carl)]

Problem is....that glow in the dark means that the proteins in the meat are most likely highly poisonous because their structure has been altered by the radiation. It would be one, short BBQ

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by renormalised

Problem is....that glow in the dark means that the proteins in the meat are most likely highly poisonous because their structure has been altered by the radiation. It would be one, short BBQ

One short, but one hell of an awesome BBQ

[toryglen-boy (Duncan)]

Originally Posted by renormalised

If it went off tomorrow, we'd be toast...literally.

Well, not for 8 1/2 years

[JimmyH155]

Isn't the closest and biggest supernova candidate, Eta Carina?? It looks awesome in my scope, and whenever I look at it I hope it to go pop so I can phone up someone and claim the honour of being first
Then there is this concentrated beam of particles coming off a black hole that could fry us if it was pointed at us.
I think I'll take a chance and cook up the roo fillet on the barbie anyway

[sjastro]

Originally Posted by erick

That's interesting re Sirius. I guess the mass change would be picked up through changes in orbital period? Or is that a centre-of-mass thing and won't be affected? Perhaps then, relative magnitudes?

If Sirius B was gaining mass at the expense of Sirius A, the centre of mass would be moving towards Sirius B and hence the orbital period of Sirius B would decrease. All of this however is very long term.

I imagine if mass is spiraling into Sirius B, then Sirius B should be an irregular variable.

Steven

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by toryglen-boy

Well, not for 8 1/2 years

True, but toast we'd be

Or, you could always douse yourself in 11 secret herbs and spices

[toryglen-boy (Duncan)]

Originally Posted by renormalised

True, but toast we'd be

Or, you could always douse yourself in 11 secret herbs and spices

Who do you think i am? Colonel Sanders?




you calling me "chicken" ?

[pgc hunter]

Originally Posted by toryglen-boy

Well, not for 8 1/2 years

8.5 years of drinking and eating meat like an animal

Originally Posted by renormalised

True, but toast we'd be

Or, you could always douse yourself in 11 secret herbs and spices

I do that every Friday night

then regret it every Saturday morning

[sjastro]

I don't think Sirius B is in a tight enough orbit to be collecting mass from Sirius itself (it's a 50 year orbit), but if it was, and it was collecting it at a high enough rate, then you could get a Type I supernova going off. If it went off tomorrow, we'd be toast...literally.

It's interesting that Sirius B is one of the most massive white dwarfs known.

It has a solar mass of around 1, white dwarfs are in the range 0.5-0.6.
I wonder where Sirius B has picked up the extra mass.

Regards

Steven