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More fun stuff lately around Betelgeuse, a bright reddish star everyone has seen and most have wondered at.
Usually most dramatic astrophysical events aren't easily visible to the unaided eye, though of course some are. It's a lot of fun that one of the best known stars in the sky has been acting dramatically lately.
Betelgeuse is that reddish looking bright star on the top left shoulder of one of the best known constellations, Orion.
The 9th brightest star [whoops! was the 9th brightest....] of all if you count also the Southern Hemisphere, and don't count our own Sol.
More than one thread here noted the dramatic dimming (atm the Astronomy News thread was closed for review, so I decided to just post this interesting tidbit separately). Now...there is a possible (and if real, also enigmatic) gravity wave burst from a nearby region.
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 [a nearby] 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.
....
Andy Howell from Las Cumbres Observatory studies supernova and dark energy. He had something to say on Twitter too, and appeared to be having fun with the whole thing. He even walked outside to check up on Betelgeuse after the detection of the burst gravitational waves.
....
(tweet):
Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell · 13 Jan 2020
Replying to @d_a_howell
Betelgeuse is not in the localizatiion region, but it is right between two of them, as you can see at http://treasuremap.space .
Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell
For the record, I do know that it can take hours for the shock to reach the surface. I didn't point that out initially because I didn't want people staying up all night to watch Betelgeuse. I was mostly joking (but I did walk outside because I couldn't resist).
34
00:13 - 14 Jan 2020
Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell
Replying to @d_a_howell
It isn't Betelgeuse blowing up because:
- It is outside the GW localization region.
- The burst might not even be real.
- The burst was probably too short.
- No neutrinos were detected
- Betelgeuse's dimming is well explained.
Me walking outside to check = buying a lottery ticket
Astronomers Detect a Burst of Gravitational Waves From The Direction of Betelgeuse
Well........I think I'd do what he did: just go out and have a look anyway.
It might be interesting for those that have looked at constellations stars routinely to see if they can notice Betelgeuse looking any different than before.
At the moment Orion (the constellation with Betelgeuse) should be visible and might be worth a look around 10p. (south-southeast quadrant of the sky for most people)
Can you see it as dimmer?
Betelgeuse is Dimming . . . Why? - Sky & Telescope
Usually most dramatic astrophysical events aren't easily visible to the unaided eye, though of course some are. It's a lot of fun that one of the best known stars in the sky has been acting dramatically lately.
Betelgeuse is that reddish looking bright star on the top left shoulder of one of the best known constellations, Orion.
The 9th brightest star [whoops! was the 9th brightest....] of all if you count also the Southern Hemisphere, and don't count our own Sol.
More than one thread here noted the dramatic dimming (atm the Astronomy News thread was closed for review, so I decided to just post this interesting tidbit separately). Now...there is a possible (and if real, also enigmatic) gravity wave burst from a nearby region.
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 [a nearby] 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.
....
Andy Howell from Las Cumbres Observatory studies supernova and dark energy. He had something to say on Twitter too, and appeared to be having fun with the whole thing. He even walked outside to check up on Betelgeuse after the detection of the burst gravitational waves.
....
(tweet):
Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell · 13 Jan 2020
Replying to @d_a_howell
Betelgeuse is not in the localizatiion region, but it is right between two of them, as you can see at http://treasuremap.space .
Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell
For the record, I do know that it can take hours for the shock to reach the surface. I didn't point that out initially because I didn't want people staying up all night to watch Betelgeuse. I was mostly joking (but I did walk outside because I couldn't resist).
34
00:13 - 14 Jan 2020
Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell
Replying to @d_a_howell
It isn't Betelgeuse blowing up because:
- It is outside the GW localization region.
- The burst might not even be real.
- The burst was probably too short.
- No neutrinos were detected
- Betelgeuse's dimming is well explained.
Me walking outside to check = buying a lottery ticket
Astronomers Detect a Burst of Gravitational Waves From The Direction of Betelgeuse
Well........I think I'd do what he did: just go out and have a look anyway.
It might be interesting for those that have looked at constellations stars routinely to see if they can notice Betelgeuse looking any different than before.
At the moment Orion (the constellation with Betelgeuse) should be visible and might be worth a look around 10p. (south-southeast quadrant of the sky for most people)
Can you see it as dimmer?
Betelgeuse is Dimming . . . Why? - Sky & Telescope
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