Earth could be getting a second sun, at least temporarily.
Dr. Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, outlined the scenario to news.com.au. Betelgeuse, one of the night sky’s brightest stars, is losing mass, indicating it is collapsing. It could run out of fuel and go super-nova at any time.
When that happens, for at least a few weeks, we’d see a second sun, Carter says. There may also be no night during that timeframe.
The Star Wars-esque scenario could happen by 2012, Carter says... or it could take longer. The explosion could also cause a neutron star or result in the formation of a black hole 1300 light years from Earth, reports news.com.au.
But doomsday sayers should be careful about speculation on this one. If the star does go super-nova, Earth will be showered with harmless particles, according to Carter. "They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever," he claims.
There is no way of knowing when the star may go supernova. U.S. astronomer Phil Plait added, "Betelgeuse might go up tonight, or it might not be for 100,000 years. We’re just not sure."
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That will be an impressive spectacle. I kind of hope I'm alive to see it.
Ticking time bomb...
That is great. I really hope that it happens in my life time. It would be very interesting to see.
I doubt it would ever happen!
Sounds interesting!
great picture!
it wouldnt cause harm when it comes down to earth. Thats interesting, i would have thought it would be harmfull.
that would be awesome if it happened in my lifetime would be a sight!
I shall watch as both suns set on the desert, listening to the star wars theme. Then my life will be complete.
The sad part is being that it is 1300 years away from us.. If it does go super nova it would take 1300 years for the rays to change at all in our eyes :P
By the time the black hole or anything bad happens our tech will be beyond imagination and we probably could just terraform another planet :P
I mean look how far we came in just 60 years!
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