“Last month, astronomers noticed Betelgeuse had faded much more than usual,” writes the Steamboat Pilot & Today. “This is the faintest it has been in over a century of observations.
“What’s up with Betelgeuse?”
The Grim Reefer quotes their report:
Well, probably nothing. It is most likely experiencing a super minimum as two of its variability cycles sync up and reach minimum brightness at the same time. On the other hand, stars like Betelgeuse are well advanced in age and are destined to explode as supernovas at the end of their lives.
There hasn’t been a bright supernova in our Milky Way galaxy since the supernova of 1604. Sure, we’ve seen supernovas in galaxies far, far away, but none have been seen close to home. So, there is some excitement in the astronomical community, warranted or not, that Betelgeuse might be ready to pop. Astrophysicists theorize that a pronounced fading might presage an impending supernova explosion. If Betelgeuse continues to fade into January and beyond, then look out — the end might be near.
A Forbes science writer remains skeptical, but points out that “some astronomers now think there’s a much closer star that could ‘nova’…”
A star called V Sagittae, 7,800 light years distant in the tiny constellation of Sagitta (just below Cygnus in the famous “Summer Triangle” asterism of stars) is barely visible even in mid-sized telescopes, but new research suggests that it could explode around the year 2083… “Around the year 2083, its accretion rate will rise catastrophically, spilling mass at incredibly high rates onto the white dwarf, with this material blazing away,” says Professor Emeritus Bradley E. Schaefer, LSU Department of Physics & Astronomy. “In the final days of this death-spiral, all of the mass from the companion star will fall onto the white dwarf, creating a super-massive wind from the merging star, appearing as bright as Sirius, possibly even as bright as Venus.”
The uncertainty of the prediction is plus or minus 16 years, so it could happen between 2067 and 2099, most likely near the middle of this range. It promises to be a wonderful sight.
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot