Posted on 01/20/2020 11:01:51 AM PST by Red Badger
Gravitational waves are caused by calamitous events in the Universe. Neutron stars that finally merge after circling each other for a long time can create them, and so can two black holes that collide with each other. But sometimes there's a burst of gravitational waves that doesn't have a clear cause.
One such burst was detected by LIGO/VIRGO on January 14, and it came from the same region of sky that hosts the star Betelgeuse. Yeah, Betelgeuse, aka Alpha Orionis. The star that has been exhibiting some dimming behaviour recently, and is expected to go supernova at some point in the future.
Might the two be connected?
Betelgeuse is a red supergiant star in the constellation Orion. It left the main sequence about one million years ago and has been a red supergiant for about 40,000 years. Eventually, Betelgeuse will have burned enough of its hydrogen that its core will collapse, and it will explode as a supernova.
Recently, Betelgeuse dimmed. That set off all kinds of speculation that it might be getting ready to go supernova. Astrophysicists quickly poured water on that idea. There's no exact number, but it's estimated that Betelgeuse won't go supernova for another 100,000 years. But when a star dims, there's clearly something going on.
Is this new burst of gravitational waves connected to Betelgeuse's recent dimming? To its future supernova explosion?
Astronomers understand that Betelgeuse is a variable star, and its brightness can fluctuate. Stars like Betelgeuse aren't just static entities. It's a semi-regular variable star that shows both periodic and non-periodic changes in its brightness.
The kind of gravitational waves that LIGO detected are called burst waves. It's possible that a supernova could produce them, but Betelgeuse hasn't gone supernova and won't for a long time.
Some think that the detection of gravitational waves in Betelgeuse's direction is unrelated to the star itself. In fact, the detection of the burst waves may not have even been real.
Christopher Berry is an astrophysicist studying gravitational waves at Northwestern University's Center for Interdisciplinary Exploration and Research in Astrophysics. On Twitter he spoke up about the gravitational burst waves.
So there you have it. No supernova for now, anyway. The burst gravitational waves may just be a glitch, and Betelgeuse's dimming is well-understood and not a threat.
One day Betelgeuse will explode, and our night sky will change forever. But for us here on Earth, that supernova poses no problem.
An exploding star is an awesome event. And it produces a cataclysm of deadly radiation. X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, and even stellar material are ejected with great force. The deadliest radiation is gamma rays, and Betelgeuse likely won't even produce any of those when it blows.
But in any case, we're about 700 light years away from Betelgeuse, and that's way too much distance for us to worry.
The biggest fallout is that the Orion constellation will change forever. And there'll be a new object to study in the sky: a supernova remnant.
“Betelgeuse hasn’t gone supernova and won’t for a long time.”
If it takes the light from such an event 640 years to reach earth how can we be so sure?
These are the same people who tell us that Global Climate Change will kill us all before the next century.............
What if it blew up 639 year sago?...............
'Twas Ford Prefect who was from a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse. But since he and Zaphod share three of the same mothers, they could be from the same neighborhood.
I often wonder how all of this tax-payer funded “science” is of nay direct benefit to me - the taxpayer.
Gravity waves? Spare me.
Once it goes nova, taxes will be our least worry..................
“In fact, the detection of the burst waves may not have even been real. “
hmmmm. possible fake gravitational waves ... i guess the science must not be settled then ...
Since we have only one detector, we can’t correlate the measurements............which are extremely small to begin with......................
He did it!
He did it!
He did it!
Oh noes!
Wasn’t that the ship that blew up at Trafalgar?
No connection with Betelbailey.
Setting our clocks by what we view coming from Betelgeuse? How many thousand light years away is it? That star could already have winked out, but Earth wouldn’t know about it for “how many” thousands of years? At least with OUR Sun, aka “Old Sol”, if something changes up THERE, we’ll know about it in about 8 minutes.
And it’s larger than the size of Mars orbit.
It’s the only star we can actually see as a round object, and not just a point of light...............
Oooops! I shoulda looked it up first. They don’t know the exact distance. But “Big B” is estimated to be only between 600 & 700 light years from Earth. Prolly none of us folks will be here to see how it ends up. But, then there’s Salvation in Christ, and eternal life etc. So those who belong to the Lord will indeed see the whole show; prolly from an even better viewing stand. Praise Jesus.
What if it blew up 639 years ago?................😯
Hope so! We’ll have a nice night sky show later this year. Hopefully the night Trump is re-elected.
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