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Is Betelgeuse visable in Scotland ?

jmurray01

By jmurray01
in Observing - Discussion

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barkis

barkis

Posted
Posted

As Betelgeuse is in the constellation of Orion, which is an unmistakable asterism in the southern sky in winter months.

Best seen in Mid November . Orion is very striking, and as you look at it, Betelgeuse is the reddish coloured star top left of the main figure of Orion the Hunter. A huge Red Giant star, it does expand and contract.

There is no doubt the star will Go Supernova, and will be a daylight star visible in your sky. We are in the safe zone, and we won't be harmed.

Ron.

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Ben Ritchie

Ben Ritchie

Posted
Posted
And when it blows in a Supernova, will we be the side of Earth that will get 24 hour days ?

If it's a typical type-2 supernova it would peak somewhere around magnitude -10, making it less bright than the full moon. So no 24-hour days. It would be visible in daylight and the brightest stellar source in recorded history though (the supernova of AD1006 is the current record holder, with a presumed magnitude of around -7.5).

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ozark1

ozark1

Posted
Posted
If it's a typical type-2 supernova it would peak somewhere around magnitude -10, making it less bright than the full moon. So no 24-hour days. It would be visible in daylight and the brightest stellar source in recorded history though (the supernova of AD1006 is the current record holder, with a presumed magnitude of around -7.5).

Even the Geminiga supernova (at 120 - 180 ly) would only have got to the brightness of the full moon. A hypernova or supernova that gives 24 hour days would be fatally close

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brantuk

brantuk

Posted
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I count Orion as a half Northern/half Southern asterism cos it rises and sets for half a year - all the permanent northern asterisms include Cas, UrsMaj,UrsMin, etc. (etc's not an asterism its just etc lol). They never set.

I'd call the Megaellanic clouds and the Southern Cross southern objects. But I'm just splitting hairs really - it's all good stuff!

Betelgeuse might have blown allready and we're just waiting for the light to reach us in a few years (or weeks, or eons). Who knows...... :)

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Ben Ritchie

Ben Ritchie

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Could it not create a gamma ray burst? If so could that not potentially do us harm?

We don't know for sure what the progenitors of (long-duration) GRBs are, but the belief is that they're rapidly rotating, massive stars in metal-poor galaxies - it's a subject of debate whether our galaxy contains stars at the present epoch that can form GRBs. If it does, they're most likely 'spun up' accretors in binary systems and/or Wolf-Rayets, not red supergiants.

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Ben Ritchie

Ben Ritchie

Posted
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This might be a very stupid question but when is it due to blow? in the next 10 or 10.000 years? What is the best educated guess on this?

Very hard to say. It's likely (but not certainly) a runaway from the Orion OB1a association - which also include ζ, ε and δ Ori, the three stars of the belt - which would make it about 7-11 million old. It's likely in the last million years of its life, but how close to the end isn't known.

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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Thats just hard headed realism - when did anyone in the UK last make a docsovery of a meteor hittiung Jupiter, or get to see any decent comets I wonder.

The clouds even appeared for the eclipse in the West country - sorry oif that sounds jaded but thats the truth.

Since retarting astro I am thinking of changing my sig from

"No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit"

To

"An optimist belives that this is the best possible of all worlds - a pessimist is someone who believes him" :)

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marcdearn

marcdearn

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Ha! You are correct! The Sun was just visible behind a thick bank of clouds where I was in Padstow!

My post wasn't meant as a criticism AB....more of a "I hope she gets her enthusiasm back because she is such a boon for this site"

I hope I haven't caused offence as none was intended

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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I never take offence hon - honest - so please dont worry. Your right - I have become a misery guts :) Maybe thats what astro does for you. Lord knows how Patrick has stayed upbeat all these years. Thats a msyery past explanation I think and a far bigger mystery than 'where did the universe come from' etc.

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Regan

Regan

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As Betelgeuse is in the constellation of Orion, which is an unmistakable asterism in the southern sky in winter months.

Best seen in Mid November . Orion is very striking, and as you look at it, Betelgeuse is the reddish coloured star top left of the main figure of Orion the Hunter. A huge Red Giant star, it does expand and contract.

There is no doubt the star will Go Supernova, and will be a daylight star visible in your sky. We are in the safe zone, and we won't be harmed.

Ron.

I hope so but at least i have blackout blinds:evil6:

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