Will there be a supernova Armageddon?

Question

There are always new theories about how our world will end. Mega-earthquakes (bad), super volcanoes (like yellowstone), comets (very bad), and now, many think the that star Betelgeuse will burn off Earth's atmosphere when it dies as a supernova (ouch). Is it really possible that Earth could be devestated by this supernova, and when, if ever, will it explode?

Answer 1

No.. It is 427 light years away, which means, even if it explodes, it's radiation energy will be spread out so far, that it is barely enough for making the star visible during daylight.

It would then take the outer layers of it's atmosphere many hundred thousand years to reach our solar system, and it would not have enough momentum to cause more trouble as a small compression of the Heliosphere - we wouldn't notice most of it, except we station probes at the borders of our solar system.

Answer 2

really can't have it both ways.

either the galaxy is full of Romulans and Jedi or it's a very dangerous place.  one or the other.

while I don't think B-jooz (as we call it at the 'cool' observatories*) ((*i just made that up)), is likely to explode any time soon, it is possible it will sometime in the next 100,000 or so years.  Be prepared.

much more likely is mass wippage of humanity when we discover that Cheesie Poofies are bad for you, killing off all the techies and crashing our society back into feudal age, where some tin hat from the Society for Creative Anachronism grabs the power over all the USA (because he is the only one that can still build a catapult).

I am hoping for a death-match between him and that Jamie guy from Mythbusters.

Answer 3

My answer comes in two words: Absolutely not!

Answer 4

There is no super red or super blue giant close enough to us to wipe us out in the event of an explosion.

  90% of the observable universe does not exist today.

Answer 5

The theory of Betelgeuse burning out our atmosphere is just that. Even if Betelgeuse doesn't affect us, when our sun burns out in a few hundred thousand years, our sun will go supernova and possibly form a black hole that will absorb the surrounding planets if they weren't destroyed in the supernova shockwave.

Answer 6

Betelgeuse is really far away...

I think it might have some effect on earth but it wont be enough to kill all life.

Answer 7

I would really like to see the ideas behind this supposed event. I mean unless the star moved close to us how will its' exploding burn off our atmosphere?

Answer 8

The sun won't supernova for another 5 billion years, so I wouldn't sit around worrying about it. We'll have moved to another planet by that time. I don't think the supernova of Betelgeuse would have any effect on earth. Would be pretty d**n cool to watch though.

Answer 9

Theoretically, it could have exploded over 400 years ago already, the light from the supernova just hasn't reached us yet.

Apparently, Betelgeuse is too far away to harm Earth. The distance of 427 light years is too much for heat damage, and the star is oriented in a way that it is unlikely for a gamma ray burst to hit us.

Typically, a star would have to be within 100 light years to damage Earth. It is likely, though, that Betelgeuse will turn into a supernova within the next 1000 years, and the explosion will easily outshine the moon during the night.