Betelgeuse Supernova: Did It Happen?

  • Thread starter Thread starter paigecoal
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Supernova
AI Thread Summary
Determining if Betelgeuse has gone supernova recently is impossible due to its distance of approximately 600 light-years from Earth. Any events occurring now would take 600 years to be observed from our planet, as information cannot travel faster than light. Therefore, even if Betelgeuse exploded this month, we would remain unaware for centuries. The discussion emphasizes the limitations of astronomical observation based on light travel time. Understanding these constraints is crucial for interpreting events in distant stars.
paigecoal
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
Is there anyway we can determine if Betelgeuse has gone supernova earlier this month? (theoretically speaking)
 
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Nope. Betelgeuse is about 600 light-years away. As no information can arrive faster than the speed of light, anything we know about Betelgeuse is 600 years in the past. If something happenned to it in the past month, we wouldn't know for another 600 years.
 
Hi, Welcome to PF, Whats your main area of interest?
 
Last edited:
This thread is dedicated to the beauty and awesomeness of our Universe. If you feel like it, please share video clips and photos (or nice animations) of space and objects in space in this thread. Your posts, clips and photos may by all means include scientific information; that does not make it less beautiful to me (n.b. the posts must of course comply with the PF guidelines, i.e. regarding science, only mainstream science is allowed, fringe/pseudoscience is not allowed). n.b. I start this...
Asteroid, Data - 1.2% risk of an impact on December 22, 2032. The estimated diameter is 55 m and an impact would likely release an energy of 8 megatons of TNT equivalent, although these numbers have a large uncertainty - it could also be 1 or 100 megatons. Currently the object has level 3 on the Torino scale, the second-highest ever (after Apophis) and only the third object to exceed level 1. Most likely it will miss, and if it hits then most likely it'll hit an ocean and be harmless, but...

Similar threads

Replies
9
Views
4K
Replies
60
Views
13K
Replies
8
Views
2K
Replies
5
Views
1K
Replies
18
Views
2K
Replies
27
Views
8K
Replies
16
Views
4K
Back
Top