14 DAY TRIAL // Over the past few days, a large number of online, science-related news sites have reported that the massive star Betelgeuse will explode in 2012, in a large supernova event that will be visible from Earth. In fact, reports say that the explosion will appear as a second Sun. This is all false, experts say.
A supernova is the final stage in the life of a massive star, tens to hundreds of times the mass of our own Sun. When the object exhausts its hydrogen gas supply, it blows up in a massive explosion.
All the layers of its atmosphere are violently ejected in its surroundings, and then go on to form a nebula. The core implodes due to massive gravitational pulls, and forms either a black hole or a neutron stars, astrophysicists say.
The supernova blast itself is so powerful and bright that it can sometimes briefly outshine entire galaxies, as viewed from Earth. Yet, astronomers explain, this is not the case with Betelgeuse.
The massive star is 10 to 20 times heavier than the Sun, and it is indeed undergoing transformations that hint it may become a supernova. But to claim that this will happen next year is simply misleading.
“Betelgeuse is losing mass, and it will turn into a supernova soon, but that 'soon' means on an astronomical time scale: It's as likely to happen a million years from now as it is tomorrow,” says astronomer Jim Kaler, who is based at the University of Illinois.
He is quoted by Space as saying that the star will not become a second Sun on Earth's skies in 2012. The star can be easily observed as the right shoulder of the constellation Orion. Kaler says there is no reasonable motif to be afraid of Betelgeuse going supernova.
“The supernova would hit somewhere around the brightness of a crescent moon. It would definitely be visible in full daylight, and it would cast shadows,” the astronomer says.
“It might scare the crap out of people to be honest, but it would be nowhere near as bright as the Sun,” adds the investigator, who spent the last 50 years studying exploding stars and supernova events.
Additionally, the object is located about 600 light-years away, which is a safe distance from Earth. A light-year is equal to approximately 6 trillion miles (10 trillion kilometers).
Kaler says that Betelgeuse will go out as a core-collapse type II supernova, which “will make a God-awful mess of the constellation Orion,” but adds that the explosion will not produce gamma-ray bursts.
These intense blasts of radiation are the real reason why supernovae are dangerous, as they can severely affect life. In their absence, Betelgeuse's explosion will be nothing but a light show.