Mysterious
Hot Spots in Cool Red Supergiant
Scientists
have recently discovered, via a radio telescope, e-MERLIN, mysterious hot spots
on the cool red supergiant star, Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse is the nearest red
supergiant to earth, and it is estimated to be 1000 times larger than our sun.
It is 650 light years away from earth, but through new telescoping
capabilities, scientists recently released a photo of the star, revealing hot
spots surrounding the sun. Although no one knows exactly why these hot spots
are there or how they are so hot, Dr. Anita Richards guessed, "One
possibility is that shock waves, caused either by the star pulsating or by
convection in its outer layers, are compressing and heating the gas. Another is
that the outer atmosphere is patchy and we are seeing through to hotter regions
within. The arc of cool gas is thought to be the result of a period of
increased mass loss from the star at some point in the last century but its
relationship to structures like the hot spots, which lie much closer in, within
the star's outer atmosphere, is unknown."
NoS Themes
-Science is based on evidence
-Role of motivation and curiosity
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130424222432.htm
Sam Pahl
Hour 1
What if it explodes? "Scientists say when Betelgeuse explodes, it will be so epic it will brighten up the night sky significantly. Astronomers are unsure of exactly when this will take place, but if Betelgeuse exploded sometime in the middle ages, then we could be seeing the effects of this supernova hitting Earth in our lifetime."
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