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Betelgeuse going super nova...?
I do not understand this. This really applies to anything but since I was reading about Betelgeuse I will use it as the example. So people are wondering whether Betelgeuse will go super nova. Seeing as how the image we see of Betelgeuse is about 640 years old why would we not be able to measure that it has already went nova and why are people wondering? Are there no other methods of measurement that can be done? If our Sun were to suddenly go nova would it really take 8 minutes for us to realize it? Would there be no other indicators aside from waiting for the light to catch up?
I realize that it is not instant...but if we are looking at something that happened say a nova 640 years ago...would there not be some sort of gravity effect that could be measured or something that can be made inconsistent based on the light that we are seeing? gravity effects, I am not sure they can be held to the light laws....
4 Answers
- arslanLv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
No there is no other way. We just have to wait for the light to travel here.
Oh, and about the "Gravity affects", thats no different than light. Gravity travels at the same speed that light travels. So if the sun were to suddenly disappear, it would take 8 minutes (just like light) for the gravity wave to reach Earth before the Earth finally drifts off into space.
This video will explain what Im talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfv2AiVfnWA&feature...
Skip to 1:24
- campbelp2002Lv 71 decade ago
The fastest indicator in the universe is light. You are used to getting information by seeing light from things instantly only because all the things you look at are really close compared that such a fast speed. Anything you see on Earth is a small fraction of a second away at the speed of light, which can fool you into thinking it is infinitely fast. But compared to astronomical distances it is not that fast.
- eriLv 71 decade ago
Gravity also moves at the speed of light. Nothing moves faster than light, so we really would have no idea before the light hit us. The Sun cannot go nova; it's not nearly massive enough.
- 1 decade ago
The speed of light has been described as "the speed of time". An event such as a supernova has not yet occurred in our frame of reference if the light from it has not yet reached us. Knowing whether it has or has not gone supernova is no different than being able to read the future, which is impossible.
