Poll of the Day > Not now, 2022....

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/8/4/AAQwHjAAC96c.jpg

The red supergiant star Betelgeuse just hit 121% of normal brightness.

I can't see it.

Incoming earth-shattering kaboom.

Though I suspect 500 LY is a safe distance to avoid any actual shattered Earth.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/2/6/AAZslrAAC97G.jpg

*Kuzco bring it on gif*

https://whitewolf.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Star

So, does that mean its be gone for a few hundred years now?

LinkPizza posted...

So, does that mean its be gone for a few hundred years now?

It's 642 light years away, so anything we see happening is that old...yeah. Assuming it blows up.

wpot posted...

It's 642 light years away, so anything we see happening is that old...yeah. Assuming it blows up.

"Has blown up"

Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse.

Far-Queue posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/9/2/6/AAZslrAAC97G.jpg

I don't see it, it's in the big dipper pan right?

Orion, right shoulder (stage left)

https://youtu.be/MXh7n7Dhvbk

*heads outside*

adjl posted...

Incoming earth-shattering kaboom.

Though I suspect 500 LY is a safe distance to avoid any actual shattered Earth.

You are correct. Even the low estimate of 400-odd LY can shoulder the effect of such an event. The sight should be a head-turner for some, though.

Entity13 posted...

You are correct. Even the low estimate of 400-odd LY can shoulder the effect of such an event. The sight should be a head-turner for some, though.

A star would have to be closer than 50 light years to affect us and there are no such stars except our Sun.

Sure, fuck it, why not? Maybe we should blow up Earth in solidarity while we're at it.

Ogurisama posted...

"Has blown up"

I see you understand. :)

BEERandWEED posted...

A star would have to be closer than 50 light years to affect us and there are no such stars except our Sun.

What about Alpha Centauri? Those stars are less than 5 light years away, arent they?

LinkPizza posted...

What about Alpha Centauri? Those stars are less than 5 light years away, arent they?

Four and a half, give or take.

LinkPizza posted...

Alpha Centauri

Not big enough to cause the type of damage that would kill all life on the planet. Unless they start emitting gamma rays for *reasons* the only real threat they pose is if they have a habitable planet that supports intelligent life.

Entity13 posted...

Four and a half, give or take.

Yep. I also read that they sometimes even get closer

LinkPizza posted...

Yep. I also read that they sometimes even get closer

Reminds me of DQ11

Revelation34 posted...

Reminds me of DQ11

I dont think I played that one. What part of it did it remind you of?

KodyKeir posted...

gamma rays

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/8/9/3/AAba7pAAAZHt.jpg

LinkPizza posted...

I dont think I played that one. What part of it did it remind you of?

The red star approaches the planet after the first part of the game until it floats over part of the continent

I'm still playing the game so I haven't actually seen what the point of it was yet.

LinkPizza posted...

What about Alpha Centauri? Those stars are less than 5 light years away, arent they?

Alpha Centauri A & B are main-sequence stars like our own sun, 1.1 and 0.9 M (solar masses) respectively, so they will never go supernova. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf with 0.125 M.

The largest stars within 50 light years are Capella Aa and Capella Ab with 2.56 and 2.48 M respectively, also too small to go supernova. They are 42.9 light years away.

The closest supernova candidate is IK Pegasi, which is 154 light years away. IK Pegasi A is a 1.65 M main sequence star, while IK Pegasi B is a 1.15 M white dwarf. In the far distant future, IK Pegasi A will evolve into a red giant. Once that happens, the outer layers of the star will enter the Roche lobe of the companion dwarf, which will begin to accrete material from the primary. If the dwarf approaches the Chandrasekhar limit (the point at which a white dwarf collapses into a neutron star, 1.4M), and if the core is composed of mainly carbon and oxygen, the core will undergo runaway carbon fusion creating a Type Ia supernova. This likely will not occur for billions of years.

Betelgeuse will become a Type II supernova, which requires a star of at least 8 M (Betelgeuse is between 16.5 and 19 M). As a star ages and exhausts its supply of hydrogen, it will begin fusing heavier and heavier elements. Once the core reaches iron, it can no longer sustain fusion and it will begin to collapse under the immense gravitational pressure. The collapse is abruptly halted by neutron degeneracy pressure and the infalling material rebounds creating a shock wave that blows apart the outer layers of the star.