The astronomer Rafael Bachiller reveals to us in this series the most spectacular phenomena of the Cosmos. Pulsating research topics, astronomical adventures and scientific news about the Universe analyzed in depth.
A new study indicates that our neighbor Betelgeuse It will explode in the form of a supernova much sooner than previously believed.
Betelgeuse is the second brightest star in the constellation Orion and the ninth brightest in the night sky. Its unmistakable reddish-orange color comes from the low temperature of its surface that barely reaches 3000 degrees, but despite this low temperature, its luminosity is very great due to its large size.
In fact, it is one of those known as “red supergiants”, very old stars that have already consumed the hydrogen in their central region through nuclear reactions that converted it first into helium and then into carbon. After the depletion of this nuclear fuel, Betelgeuse became destabilized: the central region gave way under its own weight, began to use carbon as a new fuel, and the outer regions swelled to the enormous dimensions we see now. Due to instabilities, these outer layers began to pulsate periodically, with a main period of about 420 days.
It is a matter of “a short time” that the star explodes spectacularly to form a supernova. If we look at the closest stars to our solar system, Betelgeuse, located only about 800 light-years away, seems to be the first of them all to explode. But, naturally, when we say ‘in a short time’ we are referring to astronomical terms, we are not talking about a year or two, but how long are we talking about? Will the human being still be on Earth to be able to see it?