[Arxiv Preprint] Betelgeuse to go supernova in in decades (not centuries)
[Arxiv Preprint] Betelgeuse to go supernova in in decades (not centuries)
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can someone explain if the light of its supernova will reach us in our lifetime?
Yes. Because if it's due to go supernova in the next few decades from our point of view, then it has already gone supernova, and the light from it is currently enroute. The star is 600 lightyears away.
'a few tens' - so approximately 30 years, give or take a decade or two?
Hard to say for certain. We've never witnessed the death of a star up close before, and it's difficult to know exactly how much carbon is left, and the time left depends very strongly on the fraction of carbon left, the exact mass of the star, and even the rotational velocity of the star. There were four models evaluated, and presented in Table 2 of the paper, and if we connect this to Figure 6 we can get a rough estimate of the time remaining. From the lower values in models A and B we are close to only 10 years left, but the largest value in D is closer to almost 100 years left. The model C corresponds to about 30 or 40 years left. Though this interpretation is from "eyeballing" the graphs, not any real calculations.
is it from our own point of view or its point of view? other guy said the opposite lol. idk what to believe
It's always from our PoV.
We have no idea and no way of knowing what's actually happening 600 ly. away, right now.
All our measurements are based on the light and radiation we can observe from here. We have no sensors close to it.
So if the paper is calculating supernova in couple of decades, it means the star actually went supernova 600+ years ago.I might be absolutely wrong though, I don't really know anything... I just checked how far away it is... but if it has gone supernova already, then we might have a chance to see it? That would be amazing.
There is no way for us to have any information whatsoever about an object until the light (ie, information) has reached us. For all intents and purposes, from our local reference frame, it hasn't happened until we observe.it.
well TIL
We can only view it from where we are in spacetime , and thus all the date we have on it is from our own reference frame. Any predictions about its fate are based on OUR viewpoint, not that of a point many light years away.
There is literally no way for us to know if it has "already" gone supernova. That reality has not reached us yet, and is therefore nonsensical to talk about.
According to google it's 642 Light years away. As in, it takes 642 years until the light reaches us. So you probably won't live to see it.
That's not how this works. Our estimates are based on our observations, that are also 642 years late. So if it's going to blow up in say 30 years, in reality it already gone supernova 612 years ago, and we're only gonna see it in 30 years.
cool, thanks i didn't know that