Supernova Candidates
We can identify several candidates to become type II supernovae in the relatively near future
(but near future may mean a million years). Fortunately, none appear to be close enough to
Earth to pose an immediate threat.
Betelgeuse: the End is Near
The above Hubble Space Telescope image shows the red supergiant star
Betelgeuse, which is about 600 light years away in the constellation Orion.
(This image represents the first time that the disk of a star other than the
Sun has been resolved directly.)
It is near the end of its life, and will likely explode as a type II supernova
before long.
The Strange Case of Eta Carinae
As part of our discussion of supernovae,
we consider the strange case of the supermassive and violently unstable
star
Eta Carinae, 7500 light years away in the constellation Carina.
This star is about 150 times more massive than the Sun, which places it near the upper limit of
how massive we think a star can be. Because of its large mass, it produces energy at a rate of about
4 million times that of the Sun.
The adjacent image
shows a nebula larger than the
Solar System that was ejected in a
violent outburst in 1841. For a time,
this outburst made Eta Carinae the second brightest
star in the sky.
We may surmise that this star is
destined to come to a hideous
end in a million
years or less, probably as a type II supernova.
