One day – perhaps tomorrow, perhaps 100,000 years later – Betelgeuse will explode in a supernova, creating one of the most impressive spectacles in the night sky that mankind has ever seen. This red supergiant, which is now one of the brightest stars in the constellation Orion, will become a cosmic firework that will leave a long-term trace in our history.
When this happens, Betelgeuse will be so bright that it will surpass even the full Moon. At its peak brightness, it will be able to create shadows at night and will be the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun. Its light will be visible even during the day for weeks.
But what happens after the fireworks are over? Betelgeuse’s fate will depend on what remains after the explosion. If the core of the star is massive enough, it will collapse into a black hole. If the mass of the core is insufficient, the star will turn into a neutron star, an incredibly dense object where one sugar cube of its matter would weigh billions of tons on Earth.
Either way, the constellation Orion will never be the same again. One of its brightest stars will disappear. The remnants of a powerful star that lived a colorful life and ended it with a grand explosion will be in its place.
This explosion will not only change the view of our sky, but will also provide scientists with a unique opportunity to study the processes that occur during the death of a star. They will be able to explore how heavy elements such as iron, gold and even the building blocks of life are formed.
In addition, the Betelgeuse explosion reminds us how dynamic and unpredictable the cosmos is. The stars we see in the sky today may disappear tomorrow, and their energy and matter will become part of a new cycle of birth and death in the Universe. This sight reminds us of our place in the vast cosmos and that even the brightest stars fade away at some point, leaving behind only memories and scientific discoveries.
When Betelgeuse explodes, it will not only be a colorful spectacle, but also an important moment for science.
Earlier we described interesting facts about Betelgeuse.
