MOSH Expert: Giant Red Star Betelgeuse Supernova will Light up Night Sky
POSTED: Monday, January 24, 2011
UPDATED: 6:19 pm EST January 24, 2011
  NASA scientists say they have discovered the largest supernova ever seen. |
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Imagine looking up at the sky and seeing two suns.It sounds like science fiction, but a group of astronomers out of Australia predict it will happen in 2012.The topic has only further fueled talk of an apocalypse.Picture it: sunset and sunrise at the same time. The scenario plays out in "Star Wars," and now astronomers predict it will happen on Earth next year, the final year of the Mayan calendar and the year some believe the world will end."That would be kind of crazy," one Jacksonville sky gazer said."I'd be really stoked," another said."Personally, I don't believe any of the theories," one person said. "I just think some Mayan got sick of writing calendars on a wall."Not everyone is buying the prediction, so the Museum of Science and History is trying separate science fact from fiction."This whole 2012 thing has really escalated primarily because of that Hollywood movie that came out a year ago," said Thomas Webber, who works at MOSH.Webber said it's a little bit of both fact and fiction. Betelgeuse is a giant red star that is essentially dying."Stars burn fuel in their core by nuclear fusion, and eventually it will get to the point where it cannot burn anymore," Webber said.At this point, Webber said, Betelgeuse will collapse and then explode. The event is called a supernova. Webber said it will be bright enough to light up the night sky, like a second sun.Scientists said particles from the star will shower the Earth."It's not going to harm us in any way, and it certainly will not be as bright as our sun," Webber said.But it will be pretty awe-inspiring whenever it does happen, Webber said.He said it may or may not occur in 2012, and if it does, it certainly has nothing to do with the end of the world.Betelgeuse is 640 light years away, so if people do see this supernova in 2012, that means it really happened 639 years ago, Webber said. There's no way to predict exactly when it will be visible to people on planet Earth, but be assured of one thing: It will be a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Copyright 2011 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Copyright 2011 by News4Jax.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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