Regarding Betelgeuse

At the beginning of our walk yesterday, the bright, red star Betelgeuse, as well as the three stars of Orion’s “belt,” could be seen shining in the early twilight. Soon, the whole outline of Orion the hunter, will be easily visible hovering above the trees in the early twilight.

However, Betelgeuse is nearing the end of its life; once a massive blue star, it has burned through its nuclear fuel of hydrogen and is now fusing helium into carbon and heavier elements. In the process it has expanded to a size that would engulf the orbits of Earth and Mars, were it at our Sun’s location. It has been pulsating in size and varying greatly in brightness, signs of its instability.

Someday, it will run out of fuel and implode into itself to produce a final massive nuclear explosion that will fling heavy elements into space, including the potential building blocks of new life. Some have speculated that it could occur within a lifetime, but much more likely, the final supernova event will be tens of thousands of years in the future.

Do I want to be around when it finally explodes in a glory of light that rivals the Moon in brightness for a few weeks before fading forever from view. No, I hope to leave that to future generations; I would miss Betelgeuse terribly.

#betelgeuse #orion #supernova