Dying Star Betelgeuse Spews Fiery Nebula 574
astroengine writes "Betelgeuse is dying a nasty death. The star is in the final, violent stages of its life, shedding vast amounts of stellar material into space as it quickly approaches a supernova demise. But now, with the help of the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope, Betelgeuse's extended nebula has come to light. Comprised of silica and alumina dust, ESO astronomers have been able to image the nebula in infrared wavelengths for the first time. This is the most detailed view we've ever had of the imminent death of a titanic red supergiant star."
I've got mixed feelings (Score:5, Insightful)
I've always loved looking at the stars, and a sky without Orion will be somewhat diminished. But, since this is going to happen anyway, I'd really like to see a spectacular supernova in my lifetime!
Re:How soon is soon? (Score:4, Insightful)
It generally makes more sense to think about the timing of individual events in terms of when the event's light cone gets to us. Granted, Betelgeuse is in a similar reference frame to us, but that doesn't change the fact that there's no such thing as simultaneity at astronomical scales. The exact time it happened relative to earth isn't the same time it happened relative to somewhere else, and even the apparent time on Earth would be different if measured by an observer moving in one direction or another relative to Earth.
Re:How soon is soon? (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's rephrase the question then: Can we expect to observe Betelgeuse going supernove in our lifetimes?
Re:How soon is soon? (Score:5, Insightful)
It has a roughly uniform chance of supernova within the next million years. So one in a million chance that it will go off this year.