Zaphod Beeblebrox's home star gone supernova?

[Zulu Romeo]

I always knew Orion the Hunter had a bad shoulder from raising his striking arm for all those centuries, but this is ridiculous.

Fans will be hoping that the recent shrinkage of Zaphod's sun doesn't mean that, in fact, his homeworld was destroyed hundreds of years before Earth's abrupt demolition to allow construction of a hyperspace bypass

but wasn't Earth destroyed in the present day (of which ever TV series, radio series or movie you are watching)

It's in a Plural zone, though. Destroy one Earth and another is bound to pop back into place.

Besides, time is relative at the end of the day, and due to all these time travel shenanigans, the past is truly like another country - they do things exactly the same over there.

 

[Jadzia]

Don't some of these giant stars get themselves into shrinking-growing cycles? Can't it just be like that?

If it does go nova, what kind of brightness would we expect it to illuminate earth with, in terms of lux? And how long would that brightness last? And would the resulting nova cloud be eye-visible for long or at all?

 

[All Seeing Eye]

Don't some of these giant stars get themselves into shrinking-growing cycles? Can't it just be like that?

If it does go nova, what kind of brightness would we expect it to illuminate earth with, in terms of lux? And how long would that brightness last? And would the resulting nova cloud be eye-visible for long or at all?

You're the genius, you tell us!

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Even though Betelgeuse is relatively close to us, word is that we should be safe since it's axis isn't pointing at us.

Can a star's axis shift quickly so that it points towards us, sending a fatal gamma ray burst Sol-ward? I mean, a lot can happen in 520 years.

Don't some of these giant stars get themselves into shrinking-growing cycles? Can't it just be like that?

I'm no astrophysicist [True - someone] but I do wonder if this shrinking is the start of something big (no pun intended). I don't think the size change is related to Beteleguse's well-established magnitude variability - the magnitude variability cycles since records began seem to be too short to account for the size changes recorded recently.

If it does go nova, what kind of brightness would we expect it to illuminate earth with, in terms of lux? And how long would that brightness last? And would the resulting nova cloud be eye-visible for long or at all?

I think it will be very, very bright. Here's hoping it will happen during the Northern winter while Orion is at its height, although the effect on the summer daytime sky might be interesting too if it's bright enough.

In any case, there's this interesting snippet on the subject, via Wikipedia:

http://www.earthsky.org/radioshows/48792/betelgeuse-could-become-supernova

and I'd advise an appropriate sling for Orion's arm. [ - someone]

 

[Jadzia]

A bit more wiki goodness.

A Betelgeuse supernova could easily outshine the Moon in the night sky.[21] It will likely be the brightest supernova in recorded Human history, easily outshining SN 1006. After it explodes, it will likely linger for several months, being visible in the daytime sky and lighting up nighttime skies in the Solar System for a long time, after which the "right shoulder" of Orion will disappear forever.

Reported on June 9, 2009, the star has shrunk 15% since 1993. This means the average speed at which the radius of the star is shrinking, over the last 15 years is approximately 470-490 miles per hour. The rate that it has been decreasing in size has accelerated

and from http://www.solstation.com/x-objects/betelgeuse.htm

Based on long-term monitoring at 11.15 micrometers using the Infrared Spatial Interferometer at Mount Wilson Observatory, however, the star's diameter appears to have progressively shrunk from 11.2 to 9.6 AUs; as the star's radius is now just under about five times Earth's orbit distance, having shrunk by a distance equal to the orbit of Venus. It is still unclear whether the star is experiencing a long-term oscillation in its size, undergoing initial contractions towards a collapse or a blow off of material related to its impending death as a red supergiant via a supernova.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

A bit more wiki goodness.

A Betelgeuse supernova could easily outshine the Moon in the night sky.[21] It will likely be the brightest supernova in recorded Human history, easily outshining SN 1006. After it explodes, it will likely linger for several months, being visible in the daytime sky and lighting up nighttime skies in the Solar System for a long time, after which the "right shoulder" of Orion will disappear forever.

...

Brighter even than Taurus 1054, or Dorado 1987? Neat.

 

[Jadzia]

Of course, we will have to update the mythology of how Orion had a terrible abscess on his shoulder from a war wound, that erupted one day.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

^^ All that Taurus-bashing with his right arm paid a heavy price.

With the effects of precession and galactic star movement, I predict there'll be a new constellation nearby Orion: Medicus Osseium - the orthopaedic surgeon.

(with apologies to all Latin scholars everywhere )

 

[Jadzia]

 

[Zulu Romeo]

 

[RJDiogenes]

Heh. The look on Orion's face is perfect.

 

[ThankQ]

Please state the nature of the astronomical emergency.

 

[ThankQ]

A bit more wiki goodness.

This means the average speed at which the radius of the star is shrinking, over the last 15 years is approximately 470-490 miles per hour.

This is what got me. Our minds really can't grasp cosmic sizes, but this kind helped the whole scale of this sink in a bit.

Shrinking almost 500 MPH for 15 years and only 15% smaller. 480x24x365=4.2 million miles per year it's shrinking.

And it's still larger than the orbit of Mars.

 

[Jadzia]

Maybe this comparison will help:

Known:
Betelgeuse is about 10AU diameter. 1AU = 150 million kms
Earth is about 13000 kms diameter.

Therefore 1AU is about 11500 earth diameters.

Betelgeuse's diameter is about 115000 earth diameters.

So on that scale, if earth were a grain of sugar, 1 millimeter across, then Betelgeuse would be a ball 115 metres across.

In between these two, our sun would be a ball about 10 cm across.

 

[ThankQ]

Smashing!

 

[trekkiedane]

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy may need updating!

Another series' canon blown to hell.

I wonder what new term they have found for Mode Execute Ready this time 'round!

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

The look on Orion's face says "Oh no, not again", since All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.

There, 2 references.

 

[Australis]

Hmm, it raises in me an interestion goint about space travel, if using warp drive.

Warp drive is, in theory, supposed to translate you rom one point to another - space folded at different points, rather than shoving throughspace in a linear form at FTL speeds.

Now, if that is so... what happens if the star you're warping to, exploded 500 years ago? You'll warp out in the middle of the debris cloud - probably not a good idea.

I can think of a couple of easy ways around it, but it makes you think. We're looking for stars that have worlds, and we don't know if they're already gone.

 

[RJDiogenes]

True. The farther away we look, the more things have changed. If we receive a signal from an alien civilization hundreds of light years away, it may not exist anymore.....

 

[Australis]

What. they had global warming too???