Twin Suns by 2012?

Earth could be getting a second sun, at least temporarily.

Dr. Brad Carter, Senior Lecturer of Physics at the University of Southern Queensland, outlined the scenario to news.com.au. Betelgeuse, one of the night sky's brightest stars, is losing mass, indicating it is collapsing. It could run out of fuel and go super-nova at any time.

When that happens, for at least a few weeks, we'd see a second sun, Carter says. There may also be no night during that timeframe.

The Star Wars-esque scenario could happen by 2012, Carter says... or it could take longer. The explosion could also cause a neutron star or result in the formation of a black hole 1300 light years from Earth, reports news.com.au.

But doomsday sayers should be careful about speculation on this one. If the star does go super-nova, Earth will be showered with harmless particles, according to Carter. "They will flood through the Earth and bizarrely enough, even though the supernova we see visually will light up the night sky, 99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies and through the Earth with absolutely no harm whatsoever," he told news.com.au.

In fact, a neutrino shower could be beneficial to Earth. According to Carter this "star stuff" makes up the universe. "It literally makes things like gold, silver - all the heavy elements - even things like uranium....a star like Betelgeuse is instantly forming for us all sorts of heavy elements and atoms that our own Earth and our own bodies have from long past supernovi," said Carter.

UPDATE: To clarify, the news.com.au article does not say a neutrino shower could be beneficial to Earth, but implies a supernova could be beneficial, stating, "Far from being a sign of the apocalypse, according to Dr Carter the supernova will provide Earth with elements necessary for survival and continuity."


Taken from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/two-suns-twin-stars_n_811864.html

Pretty badass. I'm excited.

sounds crazy, but it would be pretty bad ass.

So we'll all get superpowers from a star exploding.

My dreams are coming truuuuuuuuueeee.

Waiting for this.

BLACK HOLE SUNNN, WON'T YOU COMMMMEEE???

Cry Vengeance wrote:BLACK HOLE SUNNN, WON'T YOU COMMMMEEE???

+1

99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies

.....what

steveeee wrote:

99 per cent of the energy in the supernova is released in these particles that will come through our bodies

.....what

Helium nuclei can pass through human bodies.

This is going to give some sick pictures.

BLOW UP DAMNIT.

This actually sounds like a good thing, lets keep it that way.

Wait, this is happening in 2012 right?

oh..

Just to let you know, some american scientist said that this could happen anywhere from tomorrow - 100,000 years from now. It was the second update in the article.

Dexta117 wrote:Just to let you know, some american scientist said that this could happen anywhere from tomorrow - 100,000 years from now. It was the second update in the article.

Just so you know, it's astronomy, and nothing is guessable within 100,000 years.

Meatshield718 wrote:Just so you know, it's astronomy, and nothing is guessable within 100,000 years.

Oh yeah?

Average age of an star - star's estimated age = star's estimated time of death.
The problem in astronomy is that nothing is guessable more accurately than by hundreds of thousands of years...

yea your right it was a astronomy but this is what the guy said, U.S. astronomer Phil Plait added, "Betelgeuse might go up tonight, or it might not be for 100,000 years. We're just not sure."

I said 100,000 years because he said it might not be for 100,00 years. And are you sure nothing is guessable in 100,000 years? what about when a new gaming system will come out? I am pretty sure people would be guessing less than 100,000 years.

Dexta117 wrote:And are you sure nothing is guessable in 100,000 years? what about when a new gaming system will come out? I am pretty sure people would be guessing less than 100,000 years.

Is that what you call astronomy?

Made in Finland wrote:

Dexta117 wrote:And are you sure nothing is guessable in 100,000 years? what about when a new gaming system will come out? I am pretty sure people would be guessing less than 100,000 years.

Is that what you call astronomy?

1) Was I talking to you? No.
2) He said NOTHING is guessable within 100,000 years. I just said that you could guess when a gaming system is out within the 100,000 years.
3) No I don't call that Astronomy.

If you want to talk to him only, then send a PM. Everyone is free to reply on a forum...

Made in Finland wrote:

Meatshield718 wrote:Just so you know, it's astronomy, and nothing is guessable within 100,000 years.

Oh yeah?

Average age of an star - star's estimated age = star's estimated time of death.
The problem in astronomy is that nothing is guessable more accurately than by hundreds of thousands of years...

I suppose I should have been a little more direct and focused with what I said.

Basically, my point is the same as finlands.

two suns? means only one thing . . . DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!

BAXTABEAST22 wrote:two suns? means only one thing . . . DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!

no

BAXTABEAST22 wrote:two suns? means only one thing . . . DOUBLE RAINBOW!!!

Being that there already is a double rainbow. (It's a reflection from the first rainbow.) So there, you have two rainbows. :] I've seen them. SO there would be 4 rainbows

Secondly, this is stupid. Sorry... lol Just I can't see how this could happen anytime soon.. There would be soooo many signs before hand. It's not like a light bulb.. It's not going to just one day decide to burn out. It would show signs of going into its second stage of life before just doing so. And my guess is that it would take at least 3-10+ years for it to completely die out. (Creating the second sun.. as it says..)

And by then, I'm sure somewhere in China, or Japan, they would have created some kind of alternate way of life.

bremerie93 wrote:Secondly, this is stupid. Sorry... lol Just I can't see how this could happen anytime soon.. There would be soooo many signs before hand. It's not like a light bulb.. It's not going to just one day decide to burn out. It would show signs of going into its second stage of life before just doing so. And my guess is that it would take at least 3-10+ years for it to completely die out. (Creating the second sun.. as it says..)

It already is in it's second stage of life, and has been for our entire lifetime. There is no signs visible to the naked eye untill it actually starts to burst. Even then it is only noticeable if the star is very close to our galaxy. And the actual eruption of a supernova only lasts from a week to a couple months depending on the size of the star.

But the problem is still that this can't be predicted as accurately as a year or two. I highly doubt this'll happen during our lifetime.

Do you not know how many people out there study the stars day in and day out? You don't think they can't tell that something's going wrong?

Also, I agree with you last statement. (that's what I was getting at.. lol)

bremerie93 wrote:Do you not know how many people out there study the stars day in and day out? You don't think they can't tell that something's going wrong?

Yeah, and the guy in that news article is one of those guys. The only thing "wrong" in that article is the reporter who took his words and made it sound like this IS going to happen by 2012.

All he really did say is that it could happen any day for the next couple hundred thousand years or so...