Stretching across a quarter of the sky...
Posted on 06/10/2009 9:14:37 PM PDT by TaraP
A bright star may soon explode in a supernova, according to data released by U.C. Berkeley researchers Tuesday.
The red giant Betelgeuse, once so large it would reach out to Jupiter's orbit if placed in our own solar system, has shrunk by 15 percent over the past decade in a half, although it's just as bright as it's ever been.
"To see this change is very striking," said retired Berkeley physics professor Charles Townes, who won the 1964 Nobel Prize for inventing the laser. "We will be watching it carefully over the next few years to see if it will keep contracting or will go back up in size."
Betelgeuse, whose name derives from Arabic, is easily visible in the constellation Orion. It gave Michael Keaton's character his name in the movie "Beetlejuice" and was the home system of Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
TRUE DAT!!! :-D
LOVE that movie..except for the fact Winona Ryder can’t act her way out of a paper bag!
Stretching across a quarter of the sky...
From Wikipedia:
“Before its close approach, Kohoutek was hyped by the media as the “comet of the century”. However, Kohoutek’s display was considered a let-down, leading some to nickname it “Comet Watergate”. However, although it failed to brighten to levels expected, it was still a naked eye object. Its greatest visual magnitude was -3, when it was at perihelion, 0.14 au from the Sun. Its orbital inclination is 14.3°. Its best viewing was in the night sky after perihelion, when it had dimmed to fourth magnitude. The comet also sported a tail up to 25° long, along with an anti-tail. ... Because Comet Kohoutek fell far short of expectations, its name became synonymous with spectacular duds. However, it was fairly bright as comets go and put on a respectable show in the evenings shortly after perihelion.”
This star has actually been imaged by the Hubble space telescope.
I hope it's axis of rotation is not pointed our way!
Doomsday gamma ray burst ping!
Picky picky picky
1:4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia.
The events are to happen "very soon".
Isn't it silly to be looking for them 2000 years after?
Especially when elsewhere, in multiple scriptures, we are told the "end" will be without signs?
Reject the Futurist scare tactics, use that brain in your head.
LOL
“How soon?”
In the year 2525.....
I used to love that song when I was a kid, Haven’t heard it in years.
Implode?
Well vankrupt MexiFornia may implode next month and the USA’s economy aka ObamaNation may implode by late summer.
Rush Limbaugh better get more info out on the Kenyan BC ASAP.
"Never let a galactic crisis go to waste."
I am sorry but it happened about 600 years ago. The average distance to it is 639 LY but some scientist say about 500 some say a thousand. Let’s go with the 600 Light years, which means anything that we observe with this star happened 600 years ago(+/- 100 or so years). At any rate it has either blown up or not a long time ago!
Schrödinger’s star...
I have a quetzal. Any speculation on when the huitlacoche hits the fan?
Soon. Hang onto your ahuacatls.
The media is hell bent on creating fear. There must be some payback...(like continued readership of junk reporting???) like trying to see how we will be destroyed next.
Gee there was Legionaries, Sars, Bird Flu, Swine Flu, Coffee (bad), Eggs (bad), the Ice age of the 1970’s, the global warming of 2009.
Now a planet “may” crash into us.
Go away media...I think I'll ride my bike with no helmet. I may really rebel..and not buckle my seatbelt.
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