21
The connection between the dimming and a putative supernova relies on the interpretation that the decrease in luminosity may be due to circumstellar material, ejected in the years/decades/centuries immediately preceding a supernova. There are several mechanisms that could lead to this sort of mass loss (see slides 24-25), including
gravity-wave driven ...
9
tl;dr - The main measurable effect may be minor climate cooling, but in day-to-day life, the only difference would be that we see a cool, bright explosion in the sky, and eventually, Orion becomes "incomplete".
The effects would likely be quite minimal. What Will Happen When Betelgeuse Goes Supernova? by Corey S. Powell, former editor in chief of Discover ...
4
Although I will only tackle one part of the question, I find the following part of a picture from NRAO/AUI/NSF, S. Dagnello, cited from space.com worth sharing:
You see the radial structure of Antares, a red supergiant of spectral type M1.5Iab-Ib, and more specifically
The average temperatures of photosphere, chromosphere, and above are given.
One can see ...
4
The HR diagram has many forms. There is no one to one relationship between temperature, colour and spectral type that is true for stars of all surface gravities and metallicities.
Spectral type depends on temperature primarily but spectral features can also be weaker or stronger at lower surface gravity or with changes in metallicity.
For example, the ...
2
I came across your question and figured I would reply to it because doing a project on the subject. Explanations here are draw from the website astronimate.com
Would a supernova of Betelgeuse only 440 light years from Earth have any dangerous effects on the Earth's ozone layer (damaging it dangerously) and on orbital spaceflight?
No. A star would need to ...
2
Maybe somebody can help me understanding the following quote intuitively:
However, by looking at the ratio of two different but related lines -
those of iron - we found the ratio itself related to temperature. And
it did so in a consistent and predictable way.
A particular atom can only be at integer quantum states (Hydrogen is depicted here for simplicity)...
2
Stars behave like blackbodys. Not perfect idealized blackbodies, however, the spectrum of a star is close enough to the standard blackbody spectrum. Reason why you can use the Wien's Law to calculate an estimate of its surface temperature:
$\lambda_{\rm max} = (0.29 {\rm\, cm\, K}) / T$
Where $\lambda_{\rm max}$ is the frequency of maximum measured emission ...
2
For this, its important to understand how temperature increases in a star. Inside a stellar core, there are two forces that are balancing each other out to keep the star in equilibrium. The core pressure that is due to photons generated by chemical reactions inside the core forces the stellar atmosphere outwards (also called radiation pressure) while the ...
1
No mass blob of stellar mass is transparent at any wavelength of interest. Opacities $\kappa_{\nu}$(inverse transparency) as function of wavelength becomes really high and broad band at pressures above > 0.1 bars, for all wavelengths.
This leads to the optical depths $\tau_{\nu}$ being enormous and as transmission is $T=1-\exp(-\tau)$, you won't be able ...
1
In terms of "easier" - not really. There isn't anything made particularly easier or more optimal to measure. Theoretically, as you mentioned, "space stuff" like tiny planetoids or dust that are very close to the star itself might become more visible, but that's about it.
However, the reason we would want to get measurements now is to compare them to data ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible