"Since its rotational axis is not toward the Earth, Betelgeuse's supernova would not cause a gamma ray burst in the direction of Earth large enough to damage its ecosystem even from a relatively close proximity of 520 light years."
Also it would take 520 years to get here anyway...
But I suppose that makes no difference because the first we'd know about it would be the gamma burst. What we're really discussing here is "Has Betelgeuse already gone Boom?"
from what I understand neutrinos are what to look for as they supposedly travel faster than light but can't go any slower. There are giant detectors in old salt mine a thousand feet under ground (filled up salt mines) looking for just one or two a month that might happen to crash into water molecules on their way thru the planet.
The question is would it be possible to detect enough of them to be sure it was from a specific place in space? The second question is how fast do they really go, if you have no oth
Nova Post! (Score:4, Funny)
Boom!
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Seriously - If it goes supernova we should be a bit worried because it's close enough to drown us with radiation.
If that happens all our petty bickering on this planet will seem insignificant.
Of course - it's not certain that the radiation will be strong enough to kill off all life, but things will probably change a lot.
Re: (Score:5, Informative)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse [wikipedia.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Also it would take 520 years to get here anyway...
But I suppose that makes no difference because the first we'd know about it would be the gamma burst. What we're really discussing here is "Has Betelgeuse already gone Boom?"
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
because the first we'd know about it would be the gamma burst
No, no, no, the first way to tell if a star has already gone supernova is by the change in graviton waves.
Just need to finish figuring out how to detect those... maybe if we supply more power to the lateral sensor array...
Re: (Score:2)
from what I understand neutrinos are what to look for as they supposedly travel faster than light but can't go any slower. There are giant detectors in old salt mine a thousand feet under ground (filled up salt mines) looking for just one or two a month that might happen to crash into water molecules on their way thru the planet.
The question is would it be possible to detect enough of them to be sure it was from a specific place in space? The second question is how fast do they really go, if you have no oth
Re:Nova Post! (Score:2)
Neutrinos are not tachyons. Neutrinos appear to have some (small, non-imaginary) mass so they travel slower than light.