Betelgeuse 'not likely to explode in 2012'

News.com.australia ^ | 01-22-201 | Staff

[Red Badger]

THE super-giant red star Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion is destined to explode, but maybe not next year as some recent news reports have suggested and will not be as bright as some predicted FoxNews.com reported Betelgeuse has already become a red giant, which indicates it wil explode and become a supernova. But experts say it is not likely to happen soon and it will happen far enough away that it wil not hurt Earth US astronomer Phil Plait noted on his blog that a supernova would have to be no farther than 25 light years away to "fry us with light or anything else and Betelgeuse is 25 times that distance" The story at www.news.com.au predicted that a giant explosion will occur, tens of millions of times brighter than the sun, and suggested the event could happen before 2012. The story quoted a physics lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland, Brad Carter, who predicted that when Betelgeuse blows, night time will turn to day for several weeks on Earth“This is the final hurrah for the star,” Dr Carter told www.news.com.au.“It goes bang, it explodes, it lights up - we’ll have incredible brightness for a brief period of time for a couple of weeks and then over the coming months it begins to fade and then eventually it will be very hard to see at all.” That story is helping fuel internet rumors and doomsday theories by confounding the impending supernova with the Mayan calendar's conclusion in 2012 - which some believe is a prediction of the end of the world. But there's no reason to think Betelgeuse will blow in 2012, Mr Plait explained, or even this millennium"It's hard to know just when a star will explode when you're on the outside," he said.

[Calvin Locke]

Betelgeuse is *only* about 430LYs away, give or take.

I don't want to be cheated out of that extra 200 years...

[djf]

I always hear about the marvelous mathematics and sciences of the ancient Arabs.

They discovered armpits?

It figures.

The world is starting to make scents...

[Salamander]

When a penguin explodes, does it become a super

?

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

However, with distance estimates in the last century that have ranged anywhere from 180 to 1,300 light years from Earth

[central_va]

SS Supernova

[Mr_Moonlight]

Betelgeuse may not be ready to explode, but the same cannot be necessarily said for the penguin on top of your television set .....

Hahahaaaa .. obviously yer a Python fan ;)

nnNIIIIII !!!!

[shibumi]

Nope.

.....just little bits of penguin.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Direct parallax measures from space, using the most modern results, give 495 light years, whereas the parallax using the star’s natural radio emission gives 640 light years. At a compromise distance of 570 light years

[bannie]

I’m torn.
I’d love to see it...but not in 3D.

[KarlInOhio]

I heard that Betelgeuse was the arabic word for Armpit, as the star is the armpit of Orion. Anybody know if that is true?

From the Online Etymology Dictionary

Betelgeuse

bright star in the shoulder of Orion, 1515, from Arabic Ibt al Jauzah "the Armpit of the Central One." Intermediary forms include Bed Elgueze, Beit Algueze.

[coloradan]

Interesting. Any explanation as to why they should be that different? What are the error bars?

[shibumi]

"Hahahaaaa .. obviously yer a Python fan ;)"

Nope.

Nah.

None of those around these here parts, that I can recollect.

(What is this "Python" of which you speak?)

[Red Badger]

Etymology The last part of the name, "-elgeuse", comes from the Arabic الجوزاء al-Jauzā', a historical Arabic name of the constellation Orion, a feminine name in old roughly means "the Central One". Later, al-Jauzā' was also designated as the scientific Arabic name for Orion and for Gemini. The current Arabic name for Orion is الجبار al-Jabbār ("the Giant"), although the use of الجوزاء al-Jauzā' in the name of the star has[ 107] continued.[ 107] continued. There is some uncertainty surrounding the first element of the name, rendered as "Bet-" In his 1863 work Star-Names and Their Meanings, American amateur naturalist Richard Hinckley Allen stated the derivation was from the ابط الجوزاء Ibṭ al-Jauzah, which he claimed degenerated into a number of forms including Bed Elgueze, Beit Algueze, Bet El- gueze, Beteigeuze and more, to the (then) current forms Betelgeuse, Betelguese, Betelgueze and Betelgeux. The star was named Beldengeuze in the Alfonsine Tables, and Italian Jesuit priest and astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli had called it Bectelgeuze or[ 12] Bedalgeuze.[ 12] Paul Kunitzsch, Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Munich, refuted Allen's derivation and instead proposed that the ful[ 108] name is a corruption of the Arabic يد الجوزاء Yad al-Jauzā' meaning "the Hand of al-Jauzā', i.e., Orion.[ 108] European name is a corruption of the Arabic يد الجوزاء Yad al-Jauzā' meaning "the Hand of al-Jauzā', i.e., Orion Europeanmistransliteration into medieval Latin led to the first character y ( ﻴ, with two dots underneath) being misread as a b ( ﺒ, with only one dot underneath). During the Renaissance, the star's name was written as بيت الجوزاء Bait al-Jauzā' ("house of Orion") or بط الجوزاء[ 107][ 6] Ibţ). This led to the modern rendering as Betelgeuse.[ 107] Other writers have since accepted Kunitzsch's explanation.[ 6] The 17th Other writers have since accepted Kunitzsch's explanation. The 17th[ 12] century English translator Edmund Chilmead gave it the name Ied Algeuze ("Orion's Hand"), from Christmannus.[ 12] Other Arabic names recorded include Al Yad al Yamnā ("the Right Hand"), Al Dhira ("the Arm"), and Al Mankib ("the Shoulder"), al[ 12] appended to "of the giant",[ 12] as منكب الجوزاء Mankib al Jauzā'. In Persian, however, the name is اِبطالجوزا, derived from the as منكب الجوزاء Mankib al Jauzā'. In Persian, however, the name is اِبطالجوزا, derived from the Arabic ابط الجوزاء Ibţ al-Jauzā', "armpit of Orion". Betelgeuse was the fourth nakshatra Ardra "Moist" in Hindi, and associated with the god Rudra. Allen linked Orion's association with[ 12] stormy weather to that of this deity of storms.[ 12] Bahu was its Sanskrit name, as part of a Hindu understanding of the constellation Bahu was its Sanskrit name, as part of a Hindu understanding of the constellation[ 12][ 12 as a running antelope or stag.[ 12] Other terms included the Persian Bašn "the Arm" via Brown, and Coptic Klaria "an Armlet".[ 12 as a running antelope or stag. Other terms included the Persian Bašn "the Arm" via Brown, and Coptic Klaria "an Armlet".In traditional Chinese astronomy, Betelgeuse was known as 参宿四 ( Shēnxiùsì, the Fourth (Star of the constellation) of Three (Stars)) as the constellation of 参宿 was at first a name only for the three stars in the girdle of Orion. Four stars were later added to this[ citation needed] constellation, but the earlier name stuck.[ citation needed] In Japan, this star was called Heike-boshi (suggested by the red butterfly flag constellation, but the earlier name stuck In Japan, this star was called Heike-boshi (suggested by the red butterfly flag[ 109][ 110] of the Heike clan), ( 平家星),[ 109][ 110] "the Star of the Heike clan" or Kin-waki, ( 金脇), "the Gold (Star) beside ( Mitsu-boshi)." of the Heike clan), ( 平家星), "the Star of the Heike clan" or Kin-waki, ( 金脇), "the Gold (Star) beside ( Mitsu-boshi)."

[Salamander]

[Slings and Arrows]

Palin’s fault.

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Error bars are used on graphs to indicate the error, or uncertainty in a reported measurement. They give a general idea of how accurate a measurement is.Stellar parallax is most often measured using annual parallax, defined as the difference in position of a star as seen from the Earth and Sun, i. e. the angle subtended at a star by the mean radius of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun. An annual parallax The maximum apparent difference in position of a star during the course of a year due to the changing position of the Earth in its orbit around the Sun. The reason why they are different is because we are viewing it on Earth .When satellites are used the calculations are precise.

[higgmeister]

Betelgeuse 'not likely to explode in 2012'

Well, who thought it would!?

[higgmeister]

The story quoted a physics lecturer at the University of Southern Queensland, Brad Carter, who predicted that when Betelgeuse blows, night time will turn to day for several weeks on Earth“This is the final hurrah for the star,” Dr Carter told www.news.com.au.

Now yah done it! Yah said it three times yah mo-ron!

[Red Badger]

[Mr_Moonlight]

Please .. don't be so coy. There is no question that you pictured and referenced this classic Monty Python skit ---

Monty Python- Penguin on the Television

Even Salamander got the joke with "The Larch" ref ... /LOL