Will Beetlejuice go Supernova in 2012?

The doom and gloom theorists think so. Such theorists have proposed that the gamma radiation could damage biological life of Earth. And don’t forget the theory of two suns visible in the sky in the daytime.

Fact: Beetlejuice is located on the right shoulder of the constellation Orion the Hunter.

Speculation: No one can accurately predict when a star will go supernova.

Fact: To quote Phil Plait, creator of Bad Astronomy: “…if Beetlejuice explodes, we’re in no danger at all.” (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/06/01/is-betelgeuse-about-to-blow/)

Fact: Beetlejuice is about 640 Light Years (L.Y.) away from Earth. Jeff Adkins says:

“Let’s suppose just for the sake of rough argument that when Betelguese goes it will be 100 billion times brighter than the sun. That’s not an unusual brightness for a supernova; they can often rival an entire galaxy.

On the other hand, Betelguese is a lot farther away. At the speed of light, the sun is 8 minutes away. At the speed of light, Betelguese is 640 light years away. The intensity of light falls off as the square of the distance. Betelguese will, therefore be much dimmer than the sun as seen from earth. “

Speculation: It may be possible to see it in the daylight, much like we can sometimes see the moon in the daylight. I don’t think it will rival the sun in brightness. See http://space.about.com/b/2011/01/24/will-betelgeuse-go-supernova-in-2012.htm

Read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/20/two-suns-twin-stars_n_811864.html  about one astronomers point of view and how it got twisted. There are hints of a doom and gloom scenario. A few news agencies got the story and blew it way out of proportion. Over the next few days, you will hear about the supernova being so bright, therte will be no night for a few months; there will be two suns in the sky; the solar radiation emitted will seriously damage the biological realm on Earth (us, plants and anything else that grows).

Beetlejuice has been dying for thousands of years. It is a super red giant. If you were to put Beetlejuice into our Solar System, it would take up the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.

I was immediately suspicious of this article where the distance to Beetlejuice is 600 to 640 Light Years (L.Y.) from Earth, not 1300 L.Y.s like the article states. Further research on my part has resulted in just another 'end-of-the-world scenario' now that the Mayan Myth scare has been debunked.

You be the judge.