Beetle Juice to go nova in 2012

[SlimJim22]

Fierce Orion raises his right arm that holds a warriors’ club, ready to strike down his foes. The red supergiant star Betelgeuse (pronounced “beetle juice”), also known as Alpha Orionis, forms his right shoulder. Because of its deep orange or topaz hue, it is called the Martial Star.

Betelgeuse’s diameter is 8oo times larger than our Sun, and its mass is 20 times greater. It is the 11th brightest star in the heavens, but because it is an irregularly pulsating star called a Mira Variable, its size and magnitude changes. At times its diameter equals that of the orbit of Mars, while at other times its diameter is the same size as the orbit of Jupiter. The magnitude of Betelgeuse also varies. Periodically it becomes slightly more brilliant than Rigel, Orion’s left knee and the eighth brightest star in the sky. Then for no reason it can reduce in luminosity to approximately the same as Bellatrix, Orion’s other shoulder and only the 27th brightest star in the heavens. Clearly Betelgeuse is not a stable stellar object.

Astronomers have recently determined that Betelgeuse is shrinking—in a big way. In the last 15 years it has lost 15% of its diameter! In the past the size of the star has usually ranged between the diameters of the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, but now it unexplainably has shrunk to the size of the orbit of Venus. Although its size is now smaller, its brightness, oddly enough, did not diminish in the process. In addition, an unusual, large red spot has recently appeared on the star’s surface.1

All this could be a precursor to it going supernova, when it finally runs out of thermonuclear fuel and ends its 8.5-million-year-old life in a massive explosion. This star would thus become the most luminous object in our sky, much more so than our full Moon. It could even rate as the brightest supernova in history, outstripping those that the Perisans, Arabs, Chinese, Native Americans and others recorded both in 1006 AD and in 1054 AD.2. If Betelgeuse indeed turns into a supernova, it would be visible even during the day and would remain in the night sky for months or even years before fading away—the right shoulder of Orion sadly vanished forever.

Great article for seekers. Native prophecies, mythology, crop circles, you got it.

http://www.theorionzone.com/betelgeuse_supernova_2012.pdf

[ShadowSot]

Sorry, SImJim22, Sean6 has already beat you to it.

[Corp]

We'll just say it's name three times and it'll disappear.

[SlimJim22]

Sorry, SImJim22, Sean6 has already beat you to it.

You da man Shadow. You're avatar still makes me laugh aswell. FRom the PDF I posted, one of the first references was Hoagland so I didn't expect too much after that. I did like the crop circles though.

[sumbitz]

me thinks its pretty awesome to be a part of this stuff

[Sir Wearer of Hats]

lets hope it doesn't go Black Hole - the resultant gamma ray burst could end life on earth.

[Agent Darkbootie]

lets hope it doesn't go Black Hole - the resultant gamma ray burst could end life on earth.

Uh, nope.

"The explosion won't do the Earth any harm, as a star has to be relatively close -- on the order of 25 light years -- to do that. Betelgeuse is about 600 light years distant."

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/104348/20110124/betelgeuse-supernova-could-rival-moon-give-scientists-inside-look.htm

[ShadowSot]

Uh, nope.

"The explosion won't do the Earth any harm, as a star has to be relatively close -- on the order of 25 light years -- to do that. Betelgeuse is about 600 light years distant."

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/104348/20110124/betelgeuse-supernova-could-rival-moon-give-scientists-inside-look.htm

What's he's talking about is a gamma ray burst, which can be caused by super massive black holes when they collapse into a black hole.

Betelgeuse probably won't, and even if it did it'd have to be pointed right at us, as the explosions are directional.

I've sen a figure that places them as still dangerous at 3,262 light-years.