Astronomers: Betelgeuse will explode and will also be visible during the day for 3 months, watch the video

Astronomers have simulated what humans on Earth would see when the star Betelgeuse explodes as a supernova.

Today, astronomers know that Betelgeuse varies in brightness because it is a dying red giant star with a diameter of About 700 times larger than our Sun. One day, the star will explode as a supernova and give humanity a celestial spectacle before disappearing from the night sky forever.

Simulation of Betelgeuse explosion

With all the speculation about what Betelgeuse’s supernova will look like from Earth, two UC San Francisco graduate students, Jared Goldberg and Evan Bauer, have created an accurate simulation of the future supernova. Astronomers say there is still uncertainty about how the supernova will evolve, but they have been able to increase their accuracy. Using observations made during Supernova 1987A.

Passione Astronomia WhatsApp channel created! Sign up to receive all our updates

Life on Earth would not be harmed. But that doesn’t mean it would go unnoticed. Goldberg and Bower found that when Betelgeuse explodes, it will shine like a crescent moon, nine times brighter than a full moon. For more than three months.

Potential problems

There is no need to worry about exploding stars. Because radiation can harm life, The supernova would have to come close to Earth, perhaps within a few dozen light-years, according to some estimates.Betelgeuse lies outside this range, with recent studies suggesting that it lies approximately It is 548 light years away from us.out of the danger zone. But a supernova could still affect Earth in surprising ways. For example, Howell points out that many animals use the moon to orient themselves, and are confused by artificial lights. He adds A second bright object, such as the Moon, could have a disruptive effect.It’s not just wildlife that might be disturbed; even astronomers themselves will have a hard time during nighttime observations. Below is the video (in the next paragraph, see when this will happen):

But when will that happen?

The star made Betelgeuse and still makes people talk about itself. red giant Like Betelgeuse with a similar mass to the one identified, it has been burning helium in its core for about 1.2 million years. Assuming the star is at the center of full helium burning, that means it still has about 600,000 years left to live, about a thousand times longer than it takes light to travel the 548 light-years that separate us from the star. But even in the extreme case, where Betelgeuse is still burning helium but has probably run out of it and is starting to burn carbon, well… even then the answer doesn’t change much. To burn carbon, you’d need Betelgeuse About 1200 years to exhaust itabout twice the travel time of its light of 548 years. So we can say that according to these new results (Here you will find more information.), The answer is no.

sourceCover image source SPACE TAINMENT