http://news.discovery.com/space/dont-panic-betelgeuse-wont-explode-in-2012.htmlThis is just another exaggerated internet "news" story. Nothing really to see here. I first became suspect when the OP's article here:
Quote
Carter said a neutrino shower could be beneficial to Earth. He said 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," he said.
First off, neutrinos can pass through about a lightyear of lead before hitting any of the lead atoms so the idea that they might somehow be beneficial to the Earth is a far-fetched. The very next sentence seems to indicate that Neutrinos can make those heavy elements -- they can't. We'll detect an uptick in neutrinos before we see the light of the supernova, sure, but we won't be getting any of the heavy elements that the supernova forms. Those will remain ~640 lightyears away where Betelgeuse already is. (Betelgeuse isn't 1300 ly away, it's closer to 640.)
Quote (Torm1 @ Feb 12 2011 05:28pm)
So, if we will see it by next year, then I suppose in reality, it has already gone supernova?
Correct. If we were to see it any time within the next 640 years, then it has already gone supernova.
ETA: correct distance to Betelgeuse
This post was edited by bentherdonethat on Feb 12 2011 05:04pm