homehome Home chatchat Notifications


No people, Betelgeuse is not going supernova

First of all, I have no idea how this rumour started, but a number of people signaled this already; the rumour sounded something like this: I was talking to my son last week (he works on Mauna Kea), and he mentioned some new observations (that will no doubt get published eventually) of “Beetlejuice”; it’s no […]

Mihai Andrei
June 2, 2010 @ 6:09 am

share Share

First of all, I have no idea how this rumour started, but a number of people signaled this already; the rumour sounded something like this:

I was talking to my son last week (he works on Mauna Kea), and he mentioned some new observations (that will no doubt get published eventually) of “Beetlejuice”; it’s no longer round. This is a huge star, and when it goes, it will be at least as bright as that 1054 supernova…except that this one is 520 light years away, not 6,300

Yep, it's this big

Yep, it's this big

Betelgeuse is about 100.000 times bigger than the sun, and “just” 600 light years away, so if it would have gone supernova, it would have been a big deal; although it probably wouldn’t hurt us, it would be an astronomical bonanza like no other ever seen in our history.

I don’t know where this rumour first popped out, but by the I read it, it sounded really vague and not quite trustworthy; sounded like something somebody heard from somebody who sort of heard it. It’s also not true, at least according to the man who runs the observatory on Mauna Kea. According to him:

Betelgeuse will go supernova within the next 100,000 years, so the odds against it doing so in the next year are 100,000-to-1. We have no information about “recent” observations of Betelgeuse collapsing. It’s actually quite unlikely that Betelgeuse would have been targeted for observation in the last month or so, as it’s not unfavorably close to the Sun and therefore difficult to observe.

share Share

The Universe’s First “Little Red Dots” May Be a New Kind of Star With a Black Hole Inside

Mysterious red dots may be a peculiar cosmic hybrid between a star and a black hole.

Quakes on Mars Could Support Microbes Deep Beneath Its Surface

A new study finds that marsquakes may have doubled as grocery deliveries.

Pregnancy in Space Sounds Cool Until You Learn What Could Go Wrong

Growing a baby in space sounds like science fiction. Here’s why it might stay that way.

Astronomers Spotted a Ghostly Star Orbiting Betelgeuse and Its Days Are Already Numbered

A faint partner explains the red giant's mysterious heartbeat.

Our Radar Systems Have Accidentally Turned Earth into a Giant Space Beacon for the Last 75 Years and Scientists Say Aliens Could Be Listening

If aliens have a radio telescope, they already know we exist.

For the First Time Ever We Can See Planets Starting to Form Around a Star

JWST and ALMA peered through a natural opening in the star’s surrounding cloud to catch the action up close.

Scientists just figured out how to turn moon dirt into water and oxygen just using sunlight

Scientists find a way to turn moon regolith into water, air, and fuel…and that could change space travel.

NASA finally figures out what's up with those "Mars spiders"

They're not actual spiders, of course, but rather strange geological features.

Scientists Discover 9,000 Miles of Ancient Riverbeds on Mars. The Red Planet May Have Been Wet for Millions of Years

A new look at Mars makes you wonder just how wet it really was.

Scientists Are Racing to Reach a Mysterious World Before It Disappears for 11,000 Years

In 2076, Sedna will make a once-in-11,400-year close pass near the Sun.