Betelgeuse: Nearby 'supernova' star's dimming explained

[johninderby]

Any supernova may be a bit further off than anticipated. 🙂

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-53218658

Edited June 29, 2020 by johninderby

[RayD]

Very interesting read, thanks 👍

[Alien 13]

I am in two minds regarding Betelgeuse, would be great to see it go bang but it would ruin a majestic constellation..

Alan 

[RayD]

Just now, Alien 13 said:

I am in two minds regarding Betelgeuse, would be great to see it go bang but it would ruin a majestic constellation..

Alan 

I agree, Alan, but the desire to witness a once in a generation (or more) event just seems too hard to resist for me.

[Tenor Viol]

We've had bright novae/supernovae, but I don't think in recorded history we've had a naked-eye star go nova / supernova? The documented historical ones such as M1, Tycho's Star etc were all faint precursors. Anyone think of any?I was confused when the fuss was made about the dimming of Betelgeuse as it's a known semi-regular variable - I'm sure it's had big drops in magnitude in the past. 

[johninderby]

The Crab Nebula

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SN_1054

Not sure if it was a naked eye starthough. 🤔

Edited June 29, 2020 by johninderby

[andrew s]

The super nova SN 1987A was naked eyebright but not visible from the UK as it was in the Large Magellanic Cloud.

Regards Andrew 

[badgerchap]

On 29/06/2020 at 18:50, Alien 13 said:

I am in two minds regarding Betelgeuse, would be great to see it go bang but it would ruin a majestic constellation..

Alan 

Think what it would leave behind though! The shredded remains would be a fantastic target and would be an unmissable opportunity for even amateurs to do genuine science.

[Alien 13]

6 minutes ago, badgerchap said:

Think what it would leave behind though! The shredded remains would be a fantastic target and would be an unmissable opportunity for even amateurs to do genuine science.

Not to mention the night time suntan 

Alan

[johninderby]

There would be no dark skies for a while. 😬

[jonathan]

Sunspots is exactly what I thought the dimming could be, though I wouldn't have gone for one huge one like that, more likely a large cluster.  All stars no doubt have minimums and maximums like our own, so why not have a random and maybe rare sudden mass grouping of sunspots?

[Geoff Barnes]

Bumping this thread as I've just come across this on the NASA website, interesting...

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/hubble-finds-that-betelgeuses-mysterious-dimming-is-due-to-a-traumatic-outburst

[andrew s]

Thanks, @Geoff Barnes just seen it. The explanation has gone from dust to spots and now dust again.  It will  be interesting to see where the consensus finally  settles.

Regards Andrew 

Edited August 14, 2020 by andrew s

[callisto]

Just out of interest, how much more detail would the James Webb telescope see?

 

Mark

[Waddensky]

36 minutes ago, callisto said:

Just out of interest, how much more detail would the James Webb telescope see?

The angular resolution of the James Webb Telescope at a wavelength of 2 micrometers is around 0.1" (source).  The angular diameter of Beteulgeuse is about 0.05" (source). So the JWT will not be able to resolve detail on the disk of Betelgeuse.

Edited August 14, 2020 by Waddensky

[callisto]

That's a shame

[Waddensky]

9 minutes ago, callisto said:

That's a shame

We can achieve quite some resolution with interferometry. Here's an example of the surface of Betelgeuse. Don't need the JWT for that 🙂.

[callisto]

17 minutes ago, Waddensky said:

We can achieve quite some resolution with interferometry. Here's an example of the surface of Betelgeuse. Don't need the JWT for that 🙂.

Cheers for that