Betelgeuse is the second-brightest star in the constellation Orion, and the ninth-brightest star in the night sky, but it’s about to get a whole lot brighter. In fact, when Betelgeuse goes supernova, Earth may be getting a second sun for up to a fortnight. That means there may be 24 hours of daylight for up to two weeks!
“This old star is running out of fuel in its center,” said Dr. Bradley Carter, physics lecturer of the University of Southern Queensland. “This fuel keeps Betelgeuse shining and supported. When this fuel runs out the star will literally collapse in upon itself and it will do so very quickly. This is the final hurrah for the star. It goes bang, it explodes, it lights up – we’ll have incredible brightness for a brief period of time for a couple of weeks and then over the coming months it begins to fade and then eventually it will be very hard to see at all.”
Just think: millions of years from now, our sun will be the star that goes supernova and the earth will be just another drifting planet. By the time that happens, though, humanity will be spread throughout the stars and Hari Seldon will have started The Foundation.
Tags: Betelgeuse, second sun, Betelgeuse to explode, earth to get second sun for two weeks, astronomy, weird science, Brad Carter, University of Southern Queensland, Orion, supernova, Betelgeuse supernova, stars, space events, exploding stars
