Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for January 14, 2020

Put your stuff away Arlo. Betelgeuse is approximately 724 light years away. Even if it went supernova today, we wouldn’t know about it for 724 years from now. But…….if Betelgeuse went supernova 724 years ago tonight, he’d be right on time.

We are living in the current past’s future.

Most astronomers (well, most meaning the ones that I have heard on TV or read their articles) think that Betelgeuse is a few million years away from going supernova, although it could have already exploded and we will see the results tonight. It is far enough away that its demise will be unable to harm us, but it will provide quite a show. They think it will be as bright as the full moon for a few weeks/months. Overwhelmingly likely to still be millions of years away (soon, in astronomical time) but I still check each night that it’s visible.

Note: Just checked, still looks normal.

Wasn’t that part played by Michael Keaton ???

another saviour?

The problem with looking at celestial objects is that they are never actually where you see them. You could argue that a sunset occurs 8 minutes before we see it. ;-)

Quibbling about a minor point: the “light” from a sunset is several minutes old, but the sunset is when it is.

Days of futures past…

642 light years away. I think you can relax and enjoy the light show.

Noah? How long can you tread water?

I don’t get it….why the blanket and thermos……what harm could WHAT do?

This is a brilliant send-up of the way people really do think: “prepping” for trouble that’s ridiculously unlikely while doing little or nothing about clear and present matters of importance. Arlo, if you really want to “prep” for what matters, eat right, sleep well, get some exercise, see your friends and family often, be sensible with your money and focus on what makes you smile. Let Betelgeuse be Betelgeuse!

Maybe it already blew and havent seen the flash yet.

If you look at it tonight, and are familiar with what Betelgeuse and the rest of the stars in Orion normally look like, it IS very apparent that Betelgeuse is quite noticeably dimmer than usual. It’s one of the more remarkable changes you can see with the unaided eye in the night sky, considering you’re looking at a distant star hundreds of times the diameter of the biggest thing in our solar system.Of course, even when the star DOES go supernova, it won’t harm us. It will look like the brightest dot of light in the sky, but not so bright that you couldn’t look at it safely (I think I remember predictions of apparent magnitude something like -10, roughly a couple hundred times brighter than Venus, but I’m too lazy to go look it up).Also, this change may not be so surprising. Betelgeuse goes through at least two cycles of variation with quite different periods, and it looks like we’re hitting a simultaneous minimum in both at the same time. It’ll come back in a few weeks! Maybe.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

It would be nice if you could see the stars, period.

I never thought of Arlo as a tinhat kind of guy.

Arlo is going out to lie on the lawn and wait for the supernova. The same thought occurred to me…

Orion is going to look pretty dumb if Betelgeuse turns super nova. We will need a name change for Orion.

I hope it goes supernova in the winter time. It’s too cold here in NH…

Where in the sky would I see Beetlejuice, I mean Betelgeuse?

It would certainly be interesting to watch.

You can’t fool me, Arlo. Any excuse to get her under a blanket with you.

or it already happened