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JustAnotherRedditAlt t1_j25ge5h wrote

Reply to comment by _d3vnull_ in How likely is it that Betelgeuse will supernova? by tempejkl

Not to mention that even if it were to supernova today, we wouldn't find out about it for another ~700 years...

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[deleted] t1_j25jc1h wrote

Unless it already supernova-ed and the evidence hasn't reached us yet.

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ThumbsUp2323 t1_j25jopn wrote

Right it could have happened 699 years ago and we'd have absolutely no idea.

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JustAnotherRedditAlt t1_j26o089 wrote

Well, there will likely be increased activity some years (or centuries) before it actually goes boom...

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ThumbsUp2323 t1_j26pvdx wrote

Like regions of the star's surface rapidly cooling unexpectedly? Gargantuan clouds of gas exploding thousands of miles into space? The fallout from these eruptions being so dense and vast that it reduced the star's brightness by more than a factor of 2?

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aspheric_cow t1_j25ki9p wrote

When we say "happen in the next 100 years," we mean "observers on Earth will see it happen in the next 100 years."

Like, supernova 1987a was the one that was visible from Earth in 1987. It actually happened about 168,000 years ago.

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krum t1_j25lv27 wrote

People always bring this up but you know what they mean.

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JustAnotherRedditAlt t1_j26nmtz wrote

True, but if the star suddenly started acting very unstable and scientists believed it was going to supernova "soon", it probably went supernova 400-600 years ago and our children's children will be the ones to see it light up the sky...

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