The most popular red supergiant is Betelgeuse, the intense red star in the constellation Orion. It is about 550 light-years away and has a mass of about 18 Suns. It is the closest red supergiant to Earth, and when it eventually does explode it will briefly outshine the Moon. Obviously, this has actually triggered all way of speculation about the star. Will it blow up in our lifetime? Has it currently blew up, and were just waiting for the supernova light to reach us? And all astronomers have actually had the ability to state is probably not, however we dont truly understand. However a brand-new research study might give us an advance alerting a few months prior to Betelgeuse does explode.
There are two general models for red supergiant supernovae. Both forecast a red supergiant should dim considerably prior to blowing up, on significantly various time scales. The external layer of the star is driven off by this wind over several decades, producing a circumstellar layer of cool gas that triggers the star to appear very dim.
Red supergiant stars are surges waiting to occur. Eventually, gravity will win and the red supergiant core will collapse, triggering a supernova.
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Betelgeuse abandoned a dark cloud layer in 2019, seen in this artist view. Credit: NASA, ESA, and E. Wheatley (STScI).
In this study, the group looked at all the red supergiant supernovae cases where the star was observed before its surge. Most supernovae are only observed after the surge, so in between 1999 and 2017 there are only a dozen cases of excellent pre-supernova observations. However in all of those cases, the brightness of the stars stayed relatively consistent in the years leading up to the supernovae. This would eliminate the superwind design and suggests that a red supergiant should dim substantially prior to blowing up. In the case of Betelguese, we have seen the star dim as it cast off a cloud of gas, but not to the level that suggests a noteworthy explosion.
Unfortunately, we do not have enough red supergiant observations to have observed a rapid dimming prior to the bang, but that might alter in the future as more long-lasting sky studies come online. And who understands, given how well-studied Betelgeuse is, our red supergiant next-door neighbor might be the first star to offer us a supernova red alert.
Referral: Davies, Ben, et al. “Explosion Imminent: the look of Red Supergiants at the point of core-collapse.” Regular monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 517.1 (2022 ): 1483– 1490.
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Red supergiant stars are explosions waiting to occur. Ultimately, gravity will win and the red supergiant core will collapse, triggering a supernova. The most famous red supergiant is Betelgeuse, the brilliant red star in the constellation Orion. There are two general designs for red supergiant supernovae. In this study, the team looked at all the red supergiant supernovae cases where the star was observed prior to its surge.