Ygdonmir

Looks like the star Betelgeuse may be on its last legs before going nova. Scientists say it has shrunk 15% over the past 15 years and may already have collapsed in to a supernova explosion. It's far enough away that we'll be safe from any repercussions, they say. I think it will leave a beautiful show in the sky once the nova becomes visible here on Earth.

(It's 600 light years away, so light takes a long time to reach our planet. In comparison, we see our star as it looked around 8 minutes before hand as it crosses our sky. When each of us look to the night sky we are effectively looking in to the past).

Nearby Star May Be Getting Ready to Explode - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

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macphearsome

That's really interesting. Usually when I read news about stars, it doesn't interest me because they're not easily identifiable with the naked eye, so it seems like it's not relevant to my interests, so to speak.

I look forward to pointing out the star to my friends and saying "that star is going super nova"

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Dino image from www.qwantz.com

IGemini

Interesting, if it does go/has gone nova, it might even outshine the moon.

Betelgeuse could explode as a supernova » Radio Podcasts | EarthSky