Our Advertisers Represent Some Of The Most Unique Products & Services On Earth!

 
rense.com
 
Might Betelgeuse Go BOOM?
By Karl Schwarz
7-19-9
 
This essay is regarding a 'what if' scenario that could have a major impact on our planet and life on it. There is nothing to be alarmed about because there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. All the wailing and whining in the world would add up to exactly zero. In a way, this is about the sheer impotence of our species when compared to the bigger picture of things regarding this Universe and the realities of awesome powers therein.
 
One thing people might need to do is put grain, fruit and vegetable seeds in a safe place just like the elitist group is doing that includes Bill Gates, Monsanto, Rockefeller and others. That should also include seeds for trees, flowers, anything green from far and wide and should include soil too. The reason for stockpiling fertile soil is explained towards the end of this essay.
 
Those who do not have a survivalist mentality or survivalist skills might want to hone up on those.
 
If you are unaware of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, these links can fill you in:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault
 
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7529
 
I have been curious for several years as to why some elitist like Monsanto, Bill Gates and Rockefeller felt that such a seed vault would be necessary. Sort of, have they run out of things to spend their money on? Cannot stoop to house and feed the homeless and poor, so collect seeds?
 
So, I turned on the radar and have been watching for over 3 years for any clue, any hint as to why these elitists were suddenly so interested in seeds and a Doomsday Vault in the Arctic.
 
Regardless of what some seem to think, we did not create any of this Universe nor do we run it or own it. Our species never has and never will. We do not do a very good job of managing this planet. I have yet to see anyone or any government on this planet that is even remotely worthy of being the ruler of this planet and that includes my homeland of the United States. We all pale in comparison to the majesty and the sheer power that the Universe demonstrates every day.
 
I am reminded of a verse in II Corinthians 12:9: 9But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
 
The Universe works; our planet is for the most part a disaster and does not work. I have come to think that most of mankind is suffering from some sort of collective dementia and are totally disconnected from the continuum. Even in the face of hard facts and truth, we as a species have honed the art of cognitive dissonance and detachment from realities. That will not save us or make any problem go away.
 
Mankind might be very close to getting slapped into reality or worse.
 
So, YES, there is a very high probably that something is about to happen in the near to medium future. It may be in 1 week, 1 year, 5-10 years or 25 years from now. All we can do is bear witness to it and deal with it when that day arrives. if any of us are still alive to deal with it.
 
There is something on the radar that could threaten Earth and life on it. It may well be headed at us even as you read this and could be devastating to life on our planet.
 
We may soon have to prove that we are smarter than the dinosaurs and can avoid mass extinction. The phenomenon of mass extinction on this planet has happened many times before. We may be next on the list to face that reality.
 
Enjoy.
 
*****
 
I for one am sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for Barky Obama to utter his next hollow, shallow Messianic syllables about how he alone is going to save Earth from Mr. Betelgeuse with another Bail Out or slick trick. Maybe Tiny Tim (God Bless each and every Insider) Geithner and Helicopter Ben Bernanke can dream up a quick bribe to see if Mr. Betelgeuse will go away and not hit Earth with a planet-killing Weapon of Mass Destruction.
 
No, I am not referring to the funny but bizarre movie starring Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin, Gina Davis of the same basic name and Keaton played 'Beetlejuice' as the weird ghost of purgatory.
 
I am referring to Orion's right shoulder. You know, the constellation up there in our galaxy named Orion, The Hunter, especially on those cold winter nights when it is most visible in the Northern Hemisphere. "Orion's belt" is three of the most recognizable stars in the night sky. During the winter months it is almost due East in the early evening sky just above the horizon and the three stars are vertical. Some refer to those three stars as 'the Three Kings.'
 
There is something very strange going on with the red giant star Betelgeuse that is the right shoulder of Orion. It is the one with the pink arrow pointing at it in this graphic.
 
 
 
 
 
I am not one to get excited easily or engage in fear mongering, but we may be very close to having a major Supernova event in this neighborhood of our galaxy. Science is science, physics is physics, stars are stars, and the Universe is what it is. It could be a great light show and a historic event, or it could be an event that is sort of the Revelations equivalent of ending life on our planet with the Armageddon fire and brimstone thrown in for effects.
 
I like to know what is headed at me and Betelgeuse in Supernova mode could be like 'something wicked this way comes' at our home planet.
 
According to those brainiacs out at the Cal Berkeley Observatory, in recent years (since 1993, the pinheads have sat on this news for a while) the star has shrunk by about 15%. That may not sound like much but folks, Betelgeuse is one colossal star. It is the 9th largest super-massive red giant star that our astronomers and astrophysicists know about and it is in our 'neighborhood' so to speak as it is about 400 to 600 light years away. Regardless of the exact distance ­ it could well be the closest and biggest Supernova in the history of our planet when it blows up. Every indication is. it is going to blow up in a spectacular Supernova.
 
That may be the day that 'doomsday' is emphatically defined on our species.
 
We do not have any experience with a Supernova blowing up in our backyard, so this might turn out to be one of those 'hair on fire' moments, figuratively and literally. The potential is definitely there for some very bad things to happen if certain factors fall into place and those factors are not in our favor.
Due to the nature of the star, this would be the more violent Type II Supernova that can be quite extreme when the star is a super-massive, super giant and decides it is time to 'go postal'.
 
There have been many Supernovas all over the Universe for many billions of years. I feel pretty safe in saying that many civilizations and planets that had developed life forms have been erased by such Supernovas.
 
Just to make sure I had the math right, I looked up other well-known Supernova remnants. When the star went to Supernova that created M1 (Messier 1, or the Crab Nebula), it was visible during the day for 23 days according to written records of that time.
 
That was a tremendous amount of light to be blasted across the galaxy and reach Earth in that magnitude. That happened in 1054 AD but that Supernova is about 6,500 light years from Earth. Imagine that. 23 days visible during the day from 6,500 light years away.
 
The Chinese historians referred to it as The Guest Star.
 
Betelgeuse is a mere 400-600 light years from Earth or one-tenth or less the distance to the Crab Nebula. If one is a golfer in galactic terms that would be akin to a short wedge chip shot from Earth compared to the entire length of a golf course out where the Crab Nebula is located.
 
They are not sure how big the Crab Nebula star was that went into supernova mode, but the remnant alone that is visible to us is 11 light years across. Due to distance, that '11 light years across' is what it looked like as of 6,500 years ago because it takes that long for the light to travel from the Crab Nebula to Earth. The nearest star to Earth is Alpha Centauri at about 4.37 light years, so, yes, 11 light years across is a big 'post-supernova' debris field. That alone is evidence of a huge explosion of a star and it is probably still expanding.
 
The Supernova Remnants tend to decelerate in expansion over time but some recent ones (SN 1987A and SN 1993J) have not and they are still studying why they are not slowing down. They are both also of the Type II Supernova variety. Some of the known supernova remnants are still expanding at very fast rates and have been for thousands to millions of years. As Supernovas tend to do, they are defying the math and doing what they want to do in spite of what physicists here on Earth come up with in their calculations.
 
The ejected matter of most Supernova Remnants starts off around 10,000 km per second and then sort of settle in to where they are expanding at variable rates in the range of about 1,000 to 3,000 kilometers per second. However, there are some that have parts expanding along those lines while other parts of the same supernova remnants have been measured at about 200,000 kilometers per second.
 
That is just the remnant and matter that was not converted in the thermonuclear blast to energy. The massive energy waves are traveling at the speed of light. Those energy waves will easily reach Earth and fast.
 
They are each unique and each is potentially very deadly to the region that it happened in just due to the sheer power that is generated. Some of the supernova remnants and events are sort of like an enigma within an anomaly.
 
These are not firecrackers or 4th of July rockets to add color and entertainment to the Cosmos. They are Supernovas that generate colossal amounts of energy at mindboggling levels. If one happened to live in a Solar System or nearby where a Supernova occurred, they were so screwed. Some Supernovas generate more power in that split second than our Sun ever has or ever will generate throughout its entire life.
 
That is sort of what has me pondering what the headline news might look like soon.
 
Since our 'current image' of the Crab Nebula is now about 6,500 years old, the debris field after that explosion may well stretch out to 400 light years across by now or more. We do not have updated information as to exact size due to the distance and time required for light to travel here. Even the light from the Crab Nebula that arrives while you are reading this is 6,500 years out of date as to what it really looks like at this very moment out there where the supernova remnant is located.
 
I do not mean to sound flippant but what we see here is irrelevant because it is all dated information due to the vastness of this Universe. What is really going on out there is relevant and that is why Betelgeuse might be the biggest threat to our planet that mankind has ever faced or will ever face.
 
If one knows anything about Supernova Remnants, these are the nurseries where new stars are born and the entire cycle starts over. Problem is that having new star making material in our neighborhood, and eventually new stars, is not a formula for the long term health of our planet.
 
Unlike the beliefs of our presumptive idiots in DC, I am often reminded that this Solar System and this Universe do not revolve around Washington, DC or Wall Street or those who have proven again and again that they are the worst among us.
 
Just imagine the Crab Nebula as 'ground zero' and the news we get is 6,500 years out of date as to what it really looks like now. It was a colossal event way back then and it is still a colossal event today. We are sort of out of the loop because we are so far away.
 
That could sort of put Betelgeuse remnants smack dab into our solar system in a similar incident when it too turns into a ground zero.
Sort of like, 'Honey, don't worry about that elephant in the living room. Soon a part of a supernova star will be permanently parked where we live. And don't worry let the greedy bastards foreclose on the house. It is probably going to spontaneously burst into flames any way when the Betelgeuse energy waves arrive!"
 
This photo and some graphic scales will give you an idea how big the red giant star Betelgeuse is. really.
 
 
 
 
 
Wow, that is one huge star! I am sort of amazed that there are eight others that we know of that are larger than that. That is not a 'twinkle, twinkle, little star." That is a 'kick your ass out of the galaxy' star.
 
We cannot be sure that other visible Supernova remnants were the result of larger or smaller stars than Betelgeuse in terms of sheer mass or supernova explosive power. When a search is done for 'supernova remnants', many times the original star types are listed as 'unknown'. The progenitor stars that initiated Supernovas are mostly gone but for whatever remains after the big event. Most of them happened long before we had the technology to probe into the Cosmos. Even thousands of years after the explosions, we often cannot see through the debris to determine if a neutron star or a black hole was the end result of what was left after the Supernova.
 
Some say that Betelgeuse is only 320 light years away. The confusion is due to the amount of clutter and interstellar debris between here and there.
 
Try to imagine for a moment. A star that is larger than the size of Jupiter's orbit around the Sun and it is the 9th largest one known. Each of the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars and Jupiter would be in the belly of this goliath star if its center were where our Sun is. Things would be very hot on Saturn, Neptune, Uranus and Pluto. The solar winds would be so fierce that Saturn, Neptune and Uranus would not have rings around them.
 
Just in shrinking 15%, Betelgeuse has shrunk by about the size of the orbit of Venus around our Sun. The orbit of Venus is a big circle at about 1.44 AU or roughly 133,920,000 miles across.
 
However, that is just about 15% of Betelgeuse. Truly, it is hard to get one's mind around the magnitude of the size of Betelgeuse.
 
It is both super massive and is a super giant, the necessary ingredients for a very large Type II Supernova. The only remaining ingredients are an iron core and a split second of super-critical state.
 
The total size of this behemoth star is many astronomical units (about 10.4 AU, or that number times 93,000,000 miles), which is much bigger than the distance to your local WalMart Superstore. It would take about 38,688 times the diameter of Earth to even get close to the diameter size of Betelgeuse at about +967,000,000 miles across. That +967 million miles is about the diameter of the Jupiter orbit around the Sun and Betelgeuse is a little larger than that.
 
That is truly amazing, a single star that is close to 1 billion miles in diameter. Our Sun is about 870,000 miles in diameter, or 1,391,000 kilometers.
 
The problems with red giant stars come in many different packages.
 
First, they can produce colossal Supernova due to their sheer mass and the statistics regarding Betelgeuse as compared to our Sun are staggering. The readings they are getting suggest that Betelgeuse is already in the 'iron fusion stage', which is the last thing that happens before a star explodes as a supernova. That is because the core of the star has gone from hydrogen, to helium, carbon, silica, all the way up the periodic element table to iron and the star cannot burn iron. Anything heavier than oxygen is produced in the super-heat of the Supernova explosion like iron, silver, gold, lead, platinum, uranium, etc.
 
The reason that oxygen is the barrier is because that iron core is trapped. Whether the post-supernova star produces a neutron star or a black hole, the iron core is forever trapped. In a neutron star that remaining core is usually compressed into a super-dense pulsar neutron star that is only about 6 miles in diameter. Even if the iron core were to be 1 AU when the Supernova event occurs, the end result would be a super-dense neutron star.
 
It is sort of hard for most people to understand that from such death comes life. It is a natural process that is as old as this Universe. We are all made of stardust that was the building block of our Solar System and planet Earth. Some time eons ago a supernova happened in this general area and the Earth was one of the creations after that.
 
Once the critical core mass is reached in iron it can no longer sustain itself and.. boom goes the star. It is the iron core of such stars that triggers the 'boom effect' as it tries to collapse into itself due to mass and cannot due to the inability of iron to absorb that collapse and heat and retain it. That is when an iron core tries to collapse and acts like a huge spring and causes a massive backlash and outward thrust of energy. It is a shock wave that sets off a much bigger Supernova thermonuclear shock wave.
 
It cannot be a super-massive star any more so converts into a colossal thermonuclear explosion with what is left of its fusion-able mass.
 
Of course, those 'contracted 15%' readings are about 400 years old due to the travel time of light to reach Earth so we may all get to see a really big fireworks show soon. It may happen much sooner than any of us wish.
 
The Supernova event is very much akin to how a nuclear detonation works in a hydrogen bomb, but this one is much, much larger in megatons. More like having to measure it in the trillions or quadrillions of megatons, maybe more. No one knows or can predict what the aftermath will be if Betelgeuse goes to Supernova mode in our neighborhood. There seem to be no other Supernova remnants so close to the Earth. It might be a dud, or it might be a very bad day for this entire neighborhood of this Milky Way galaxy.
 
Secondly, they are so massive that they usually create either neutron stars or black holes in the wake of their going into supernova mode. It is kind of hard to detect black holes but I have never heard of one being just 400-600 light years from Earth.
I cannot say that I want such in my neighborhood but not much I can do about it. They tend to park where they want to park and there is nothing anyone can do about it, not even Slick Barky or Tiny Tim. Evil Dick Cheney cannot even snarl and make a dent in the reality of the situation.
 
Whether the end result is a neutron star or a black hole will not be known until Betelgeuse goes to Supernova mode and the star dust starts to clear. That is when a teaspoon of neutron star matter could weigh as much as 10 billion tons and light could not even escape from a black hole singularity if that is the final outcome.
How much is 10 billion tons in neutron star realities? Close to the weight of every car and truck on the road on this planet today ­ smashed into what would fit on a teaspoon at a neutron star.
 
Yes, reality would be altered a tad in that part of this neighborhood and over time it could affect our part of this neighborhood.
 
Third, depending on the nature of the Betelgeuse supernova, when it blows, the sheer force may be enough to cause serious disruption and wreak havoc and problems in our Solar System. You know, all of us and every elephant in every living room. If it does not produce total destruction, it can probably produce many bad effects. It could well change life on this planet as we know it and be a very harsh wake up call.
 
We may well find ourselves pushed from creature comforts back to the Middle Ages or close to it. Or, we as a species may well become extinct and fast.
 
Such a blast might well even super-excite our Sun into doing some things that no human has ever seen in our history on this planet.
 
This event may also provide some hard evidence of what the Electric Universe theory is as we see a new 'relationship' between Betelgeuse and our Sun.
 
What is a little disconcerting to me is the possibility that our atmosphere could turn into a fireball if the right conditions happened at about the same time. Just super-activity of our Sun has done that in the past and it literally rained carbon nanotubes and nano-diamonds all over the planet. The temperatures necessary to do that are much higher than Al Gore and The Gorettes can imagine and has nothing to do with fossil fuels or carbon emissions. That event may have coincided with a massive flow of cosmic energy into our atmosphere many eons ago. Oxygen and hydrogen are flammable and explosive, under the right conditions and exposure to energy or heat.
 
Our Sun likes to produce radiant heat and the solar wind as an outward flow. I am not sure anyone can predict what will happen when the 'solar wind' from Betelgeuse shows up as a massive thermonuclear blast and surges in sheer energy waves headed against that outward flow from the Sun. It might be a 'push come to shove' match that I would rather not witness. Seriously, our atmosphere might take on the appearance of Hell on Earth for a while.
 
Many people like to spend their time watching and commenting on the weather and how crazy it is at times. We may get to see a paradigm shift where F5 tornados and hurricanes are passé and we get super-massive storms many times more powerful that make life on this planet impossible. None of that would have anything to do with the burning of fossil fuels on this planet.
 
It could sort of show these Global Warming folks to be the morons I think they are when our atmosphere goes to over one thousand degrees and the Sun has nothing to do with it or carbon emissions here on Earth. Or, the magnitude of storms makes life on the surface of our planet a deadly proposition and growing food as we do now would be impossible.
 
It could be akin to breaking the billiard balls (our solar system) with a colossal nuclear blast and energy waves that we do not have the technology to measure how powerful they really are. In space, there is little to nothing to dissipate the force of that blast or the massive surges in energy. It all depends on the exact moment and the exact nature of the supernova event as to what we will get as the end result.
 
Fourth, just before colossal stars go Supernova, they contract and get smaller in size. Hmm, 15% contraction since 1993 according to the 'data hoarders' at Berkeley Observatory, but dated by about 400 light years. Hmm, iron core fusion in progress and contraction. Hmm, sounds like the probability of fireworks coming soon might be increasing.
 
I am very curious as to why the folks at Berkeley kept this quiet for 16 years and Bill Gates and gang are out collecting seeds for a doomsday vault. Might the elitist bastards be looking out only for their sorry hides? None of them are even fit breed stock for our species having a future on this planet.
 
We can all hope and pray that the event is directional and not headed our way or is merely a distant nuclear blast and not a tsunami of deadly levels of UV, gamma and/or x-ray radiation. Such super-massive stars can generate lethal levels of UV, gamma ray and x-ray radiation in staggering proportions.
 
How staggering?
 
The sheer size of Betelgeuse is over 1,000 times that of our Sun.
Due to the exponential Supernova power where that 1,000 can translate into billions, trillions or quadrillions, it could well overpower the effects of the Sun for a while here on Earth and in this Solar System. It is a swelled red giant star that would reach out to Jupiter if it were parked where our Sun is. It is in the class of what astronomers and astrophysicists refer to as Super Massive Stars.
 
 
 
 
Insert:
 
"Betelgeuse is a red supergiant of spectral type M1-2Ia-Iab. The luminosity of the star is about 10,000 times that of the sun.
 
The diameter of the star is about 650 times the diameter of the sun. According to Burnham the star fluctuates irregularly in brightness over a period of years and has been seen to vary by up to a factor of two in luminosity. Betelgeuse is also pulsates irregularly in size. Burnham suggests that the diameter of the star may vary as much as 60%. "
 
End Insert.
 
That considerable fluctuation in luminosity and in size are also signs that the core is quickly turning to iron but the critical density has not been reached yet, as of 400 years ago or so. It could not find any reliable information on this but it would not surprise me if Betelgeuse consumes more of its nuclear fuel in one day than our Sun does in one year. It might even be a 1 hour to 1 year ratio since the star is so young, so massive yet already seems to be approaching the Supernova mode.
 
It would also not surprise me if Supernova Betelgeuse releases more energy in 1 second than our Sun ever has or ever will when the thermonuclear detonation occurs.
 
It has already shed a mass equal to our Sun that extends approximately 20,000 AU or astronomical units away from its surface. It also has a mass of about 20 times that of our Sun, at a minimum. Due to the nature of the star, it is burning its nuclear fuel at rates far greater than the Sun. It is that fast burn rate and iron core that is problematic. When it comes to super massive stars, those facts mean that thermonuclear explosion is not far away. That inserted comment above about 'size may vary up to 60%' is a clear indication that the iron core and sheer mass are in the 'huff and puff' mode and about to blow the house down. It is already trying to collapse on its core and that is what produces the Supernova.
 
When the outflow of energy is no longer sufficient to prevent core collapse, the Supernova happens.
 
1 AU (Astronomical Unit) is the distance from our Sun to our Earth, or about 93,000,000 miles, about 149,598,000 kilometers.
 
Scientists use that as a different yard stick since the distances across the Universe are so huge. Our entire Solar System is about 80 AU across, with Pluto being 39.6 AU from the Sun in distance; so double that to have a suitable parking place for our Solar System.
 
Stop and ponder that for a moment. The entire width of the Solar System orbits is about 80 AU in diameter and Betelgeuse alone is about 10.4 AU. In our Solar System the Sun makes up over 99% of the total mass, far outweighing the 9 planets and moons.
Betelgeuse alone is at least 20 times the entire mass of our Sun and all 9 planets and moons, comets and asteroids.
 
Sun: 99.85%
Planets: 0.135%
 
 
Betelgeuse is at a minimum 20 times the mass of our Sun and over 1,000 times as large. This is not a toy; it may well be regarded as a God Star that has the fate of our species and our planet under its control. Its destiny may wind up being our fate.
 
I think one of the things that have the scientists concerned is Betelgeuse is a very young, but very well developed star. That is not the normal progression for red giant stars. In that I mean that it has gone through a lifecycle very fast and has developed layers that would be something like this:
 
 
 
 
 
That is normally the progression of older red giant star but Betelgeuse seems to be creating a new reality in red giant star physics.
 
Betelgeuse is not part of a binary star system so in spinning off at least one solar mass (our Sun) it has probably done so in hydrogen and some helium into free space. Helium is not explosive but hydrogen is highly explosive and highly flammable.
 
There is a chance that once Betelgeuse goes into Supernova mode it may well gain some strength when that additional solar mass of hydrogen is incorporated into the sheer force of the blast wave for the first 20,000 AU or so. Normally the black hole or neutron star left behind tends to exert some gravitational pull in the other direction but Betelgeuse might be different in that it will start off expanding fast and stay fast and even gain energy and power as the blast effect expands.
 
One light year is about 63,000 AU, so for the first 30% or so of a light year (20,000 AU) this Supernova may well be gaining energy instead of decelerating and be beyond any gravitational pull the remaining black hole or neutron star could exert. That fact alone might be why some scientists are looking at this as a potential freight train from Hell.
 
Another thing this additional hydrogen could do is extend the intensity of the light that is reaching Earth. That may not be the enhanced light show we would wish to see. It might actually enhance the sheer damaging effects. When such Supernovas occur they ionize the hydrogen at the outer layers and that adds to the intensity. With Betelgeuse we have an additional 20,000 AU of hydrogen that may well add to the length of time and intensity of this bright light is in our sky.
 
That might also add to any negative affects we get in the way of energy wave intensity from this Supernova that could add up to bad things here on Earth. Our atmosphere protects reasonably well from the Sun. Our atmosphere was never intended to protect from a nearby Supernova that may well reach to Biblical proportions of power.
 
Imagine for a moment the mass of our Sun being hurled off one star to a distance of 20,000 AU or 20,000 times the distance from Sun to Earth. It might help if you look at it this way ­ the mass of our Sun is considerably greater than that of the 9 planets. The Sun is about 99.85% of all of the mass in this Solar System. Otherwise, the planets could not stay in orbit. Now imagine hurling that mass 20,000 AU or 250 times the width of our entire Solar System. The red giant Betelgeuse is a nuclear-powered engine of gargantuan proportions.
 
A possible good analogy of what Betelgeuse has done is what happens with an FAE or Fuel Air Explosion. For an area totaling 20,000 AU around this star it has saturated space with enough hydrogen and helium to equal the mass of our Sun. Folks, that is huge.
 
When it blows, that additional Sun mass will come into play somehow. It may intensify the explosive power or it may intensify the UV, gamma ray and x-ray potential to inflict massive harm and possibly planetary death on Earth or any other planet within its reach.
 
Most red giant stars are the 'slow burn' type while it is the super-hot large blue or white stars that tend to live short lives.
 
There is something very different about Betelgeuse and I think the scientists are figuring that out. If it is truly only about 10 million years old and has developed the multiple layers and iron core, my bet is some of the scientists are starting to talk about a possible "Type III" supernova that redefines their thoughts on the subject.
 
Frankly, I would rather be studying that phenomenon from 100,000 to 1,000,000 light years away and not in the neighborhood Earth is located. There is a very good possibility that 400 light years away from Betelgeuse is not enough of a safety zone.
 
For you folks that can only relate to maps, scale and miles, 20,000 AU is about 23.5 billion miles in one direction. If factored that the mass ejection is in all directions it is about 47 billion miles across in any direction you choose. It is a sphere with a much bigger sphere around it and many times the diameter of our Solar System. My bet is much of the contents of the larger sphere is highly combustible hydrogen that will either multiply or extend the effects far beyond the normal range of a Supernova.
 
So, what could this bad-boy Betelgeuse do to us here on Earth?
Plenty and it all depends on our luck and our fate when it goes Supernova. It could wreak havoc that would make the Revelations' predictions seem mild in comparison.
 
The hot plasma remnants of Betelgeuse may or may not reach this far over time. The blast wave, or shock wave, might reach this far.
If the blast is very heavy in gamma or x-ray radiation, it will definitely reach this far as will the light emissions put off by the explosion. That wave of energy may include massive amounts of UV light radiation at levels our Sun cannot ever match and our atmosphere cannot block.
 
If the Supernova is the type that emits vast volumes of gamma ray and x-ray radiation, it might be strong enough to kill, sterilize or mutate much of life on this planet. I would have to classify that as a 'bad day' for Earth. It might just mutate every living thing in its path but that can be defined as a bad day, too.
 
There are two sure routes to extinction. The first is annihilation either quick like explosion or starvation. The second is sterility and the inability to perpetuate the species. We could be facing both.
 
What I find particularly disgusting and offensive is that some among us pretend that they are the only ones that should survive such a calamity. Try to imagine a future where only the pedophiles, miscreants, whores, sluts, twits, inbred morons, nerds, geeks, liars, thugs, bureaucratic slugs, warmongers, war criminals, wealthy elite and truly self-obsessed megalomaniacs think they alone deserve to survive while the rest of us perish.
 
I have been watching that group and there is not a fit breeding partner in the bunch for the perpetuation of life on this planet.
 
That is the future they envision after such a calamity, where they inherit it all. You can bet all you have that elite little groups are working their busy-bee buttheads off trying to make sure they are the sole survivors.
 
If the event comes as massive doses of UV, gamma rays and x-ray energy, our Solar System might be as comfortable as being cooked alive in a microwave oven. If we get the GRB effect, we will no longer have the Zoo named Earth. That GRB designation (see below) could mean lights out for life on this planet.
 
Our food supplies might be totally destroyed, whether livestock or crops. The seas and lakes would not go unaffected. That could hold true under the UV, gamma ray, x-ray or GRB scenarios.
 
The thought occurred to me that this might be why there are so many more UFO's being sighted. ET squatters might be able to move in here after Betelgeuse gets rid of the inhabitants and elitist riff-raff we have here now. For years I have thought maybe we were one of the top Zoo attractions in the galaxy but maybe they are more interested in uninhabited mountains, plains and beaches.
 
But for the idiots running it and those ruining it, this is a very nice planet with lots of potential.
 
Maybe the ET folks are offering a PhD in 'pre' and 'post' Supernova realities on this planet. If they can travel faster than light, which is highly likely since they could come to Earth, they may already know if Betelgeuse has gone to Supernova and just watching here before the Big Show arrives. In a macabre sort of way, maybe ET would find it entertaining to see Earth go into a massive panic attack and then extinction. They might get a kick out of watching a mass Chinese Fire Drill. Even some here on Earth would consider it a study in mass psychosis. How often would one get to do a PhD thesis on the firsthand observational extinction of a species?
 
There is the potential for a nasty thing called GRB's or gamma ray bursts that can be extremely bad.
 
Start insert:
 
"Gamma-ray bursts are just supernovae playing high-energy accelerator physics, as De Rujula sees it.
 
"Exactly how they do it, we have no idea whatsoever," he said. "But once they eject cannonballs, we can follow their effects in detail."
 
In an interview in 2001, Dar explained why it is fortuitous that GRBs almost always come from outside the Milky Way Galaxy. The radiation from such an event, were it to originate nearby, could produce a lethal dose of byproducts -- particles called muons -- upon striking Earth's atmosphere, he said.
 
"Most of the species on Earth -- on the ground, underground and in the oceans, seas and lakes down to tens of yards (meters) -- will be extinct directly by these penetrating muons," Dar said. He and others have suggested that past mass extinctions on Earth might be attributable to such events.
 
Other researchers argue that our atmosphere would instead protect life on Earth and that there is almost no danger. Either way, recent calculations by another science team showed that a properly aimed explosion near enough to threaten Earth occurs just once in a billion years."
 
End Insert.
 
Damn, MUONS! I forgot about those nasty little buggers. I sort of get the mental image that was in that Indiana Jones movie where the Nazis melted because they looked upon the Arc of the Covenant. You do not want to be in a situation where muons are out of control because odds are you will not survive it. A GRB event would almost certainly set off a massive muon storm. Massive blasts of UV, gamma ray or x-ray are probably going to do the same to some extent.
 
Muons are highly charged particles that result from cosmic rays interacting with our atmosphere. They are here already and are all around us in minute levels, but not in what could be termed tsunami level due to a nearby Supernova. The problem with muons is they ionize matter at sea level and with a big enough blast of cosmic rays into our atmosphere some brilliant scientists agree that life on the surface of Earth could well be annihilated. A big enough blast of cosmic rays that convert into colossal levels of muons would be a life-killer for our planet.
 
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/HBASE/particles/muonatm.html
 
Muons are nasty and they are not compatible with living organisms.
 
Energy comes in degrees of intensity. A massive supernova can deliver levels of UV, gamma ray and x-ray energy that can be virtually instantly lethal. The blast waves alone make human-made nukes pale in comparison. The heats generated are numbers almost too big to grasp.
 
And you read that insert above right, GRB's are sort of like God's thermonuclear howitzer. It is sort of like the Star Trek Enterprise firing its photon torpedoes but these GRB's would be much bigger torpedoes capable of killing a planet or this entire Solar System. If one of those were to hit Earth we would not need to worry about what Barky, Congress and the Banksters are up to.
It would terminate most of the life on this planet, especially all surface life. Just think. No Federal Reserve whether those greedy shitheads like it or not.
 
Our beautiful blue and green planet could be turned into a smoldering cinder if we have a bad day headed at Earth due to this Supernova.
 
Some have heard the old posit ­ "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" It does, but no one was there to hear it except the wildlife.
 
Due to the vacuum of space it is not likely that a Supernova makes much if any sound, but that may not hold true when the shock wave reaches our atmosphere or that of any other planet. Some theorize that such force could create sonic booms and massive fire ball explosions that would cause massive damage as these high speed energy waves slam into our atmosphere. I think that could qualify as an 'Oh Shit!' moment.
 
I had to smirk at the comment the one scientist made in the above insert "Dar explained why it is fortuitous that GRBs almost always come from outside the Milky Way Galaxy" because the next big event might be close enough to make him eat those words.
 
Given the sheer size of Betelgeuse and its proximity to Earth, many bad things are possible when this star turns into a Supernova.
 
Of course, it has probably been well over a billion years since we had a large supernova in Earth's neighborhood. And, as another scientific fact ­ our atmosphere does well in reducing UV light up to a point and does virtually nothing to block gamma ray bursts, sustained gamma rays or x-rays. Our atmospheric security blanket would do little to nothing if a GRB slams into our home planet.
 
UV protecting sunglasses and sun block are needed because the atmosphere does not stop all of the UV from the Sun. What might be headed this way is a massive UV overload (along with gamma and x-ray energy) where even being outside at night would be hazardous to your health up to the point of possibly lethal.
 
We may all get to see what God's version of Shock & Awe looks like if this plays out sort of on the ugly side for us here on Earth.
 
This is but a small example of what sheer raw power can look like.
In January 2008 scientists finally caught a Supernova when it happened, in Earth time. The galaxy is about 18 million light years from Earth so the actual explosion happened long ago. SN 2008D was discovered while an astronomer was looking at this galaxy and checking up on SN 2007uy.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Note the energy detected in the left photo. That is a super-blast of x-ray energy that turned out to be about 100 billion times more intense than our Sun. This is the sort of differences that can be expected from a normal star like our Sun to work on your tan and a colossal star going to Supernova and can reduce you to ashes in seconds or total vaporization. Had Earth been 400 light years from an x-ray burst of that magnitude, much or all of the life on this planet would have perished.
 
Anyone want to be in that neighborhood? Fortunately, this one was 18 million light years away. Betelgeuse is just about point-blank in galactic terms.
 
If Betelgeuse blows up as a Supernova, and depending on the nature of that explosion, severity, etc. Earth might be severely damaged in 400 to 600 or so light years after it blows up. Some astrophysicists are saying that when Betelgeuse blows it will be brighter than the full moon in our night sky. At a minimum, the many satellites orbiting Earth might have serious problems if the blast effects reach our neighborhood.
 
Many readers will know what 'pulse weapons' means and Betelgeuse would qualify as a massive source to get such a pulse that could seriously damage electronic systems anywhere on this planet. That might not matter much to have your computer and cell phone frying if the muons are frying you at the same time.
 
I asked one of our physicists what affect muons would have on a human body. His reply: "Sort of like hemorrhagic popcorn, the microwave is inside and outside of you, cells exploding, nerves burning extremely, excruciating pain like being on fire inside and out, and lots of it, steady feeling of electrocution and being shredded, eaten away at, sort of surrealistic like the air and everything around you has suddenly turned deadly.. painful, but not quick enough to be merciful."
 
Earth might be without the MSM talking heads on TV and our lying cretins in government! What a relief that would be!
 
On a downside note, such an event would peak the 'victim mentality' on this planet for anyone that might survive the calamity. I am not certain I can bear more whining than is happening now. Such folks will not make it when they suddenly figure out that 'social services' become extinct, too. Not a single government tit to suckle for anyone.
 
Having such a powerful star this close to our planet and about to go Supernova might soon prove what survival of the fittest truly means.
 
I am sure some of the nihilists will figure this is their last chance to party. They will regret not having taken the time to seek a way to protect their future, whatever state that might be in. I imagine some will remember the moral of 'The Three Little Pigs', just as they are going extinct.
 
Such a massive surge might also trigger a phenomenon where our atmosphere is more super-charged matter-ionizing muons than it is air to breath. That would not be a good thing. It could get quite ugly.
 
Problem is, we do not know if Betelgeuse blew up 400 years ago or will do so 400 years from now. That darned relativity thing and light can only travel so fast. That photo shown above is about 400 years old as to what Betelgeuse looked like about 400 years ago but the light has just now reached us. That is an important distinction because what we see now here on Earth happened long ago at Betelgeuse in real time there.
 
This '15% contraction' being reported in the media recently started happening sometime between the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the New World and the time the Colonists were getting fed up with the British King and mumbling 'revolution'.
 
"Ground Zero" may have already happened but due to distance the news flash will take 1 or 400-600 years to arrive here. The media is just now reporting the 15% contraction because the light has just now reached us. This "Mother of all Stars" may have already blown up as the "Mother of all Thermonuclear Bombs" and we cannot see the event yet since the light show has not reached us yet. Darn, don't you just hate long distance and relativity?
 
It makes the anticipation be uh, anticipation.
 
Literal Hell on Earth may be rushing as us right now at the speed of light and we cannot see the train coming yet.
 
Sad part of that story is we will not know that it blew up until the light and massive energy levels reaches us and the blast wave will arrive after that. What arrives here may be more gamma and x-ray radiation than we are prepared to deal with and could create 'a very bad day' on Earth for centuries to come. Under worst case scenarios, life on this Earth could be extinguished and we would be back to primordial sludge to see what creeps out of the oceans or bogs to rule the Earth, provided ET passes on taking title to this Zoo.
 
We might be facing gamma ray and x-ray alerts, sort of like the DHS terrorist warning system but in 'RED' this time. On the other hand, DHS may no longer exist to issue such alerts.
 
Anyone want odds that DC will try to blame this on Al Qaeda? They are truly that stuck-on-stupid.
 
It might also alter our realities in the number of asteroids and comets that are deflected due to the force of the blast and start heading our way. That too could be a bad thing at some point in the future. On the other hand, if no one lives here would it really matter how many asteroids pummel Earth over the next hundred million years or so?
 
The Earth satellites might be in for a very rough ride but that has both upsides and downsides best I can tell. There may be no satellites left when the energy forces arrive. Our satellite named Earth could be in for the ultimate end ride.
 
I have never been much in fear of the Biblical account of Armageddon. That is because I have always believed that God can turn off our clocks and shut down the bullshit on this planet in many different ways any time He so chooses. One sure way to create that Armageddon effect would be through a Supernova.
 
Maybe Supernova Betelgeuse is God's way of saying He has seen enough, heard enough and it is time to close down the Zoo. One can make a very strong argument that we are indeed a failed species and maybe it is time to end the charade since we just cannot seem to get our proverbial shit together. I know I am tired of war, lies, senseless acts of killing and cruelty. Maybe God is too. Maybe beings far more advanced than humans are sick and tired of this carnival-show, too.
 
Maybe since we seem to be so intent on militarizing space and now about to bomb the Moon, the Continuum Collective says it is time to put Earth out of the picture. Sort of, it is time to euthanize this planet before any more harm or stupidity is allowed to occur.
 
Occasionally it pays to think outside of the box and consider matters from a different viewpoint. What would another species (ET) think of a species that has such a blood-lust for killing its own kind? An intelligent species would have the discernment to ask: "What would such a species do to them if given the chance?"
 
I remember well the classic Carl Sagan series "Cosmos" that aired in the early 1980's. Two things stick out as appropriate at this time. "We are star stuff pondering the future of the stars". That was a simple statement that life and a modicum of intelligence had evolved on this planet. Unfortunately we still have an epidemic of stupidity on this planet, almost to the point of being an incurable plague. The second comment was: "Star Wars is unlikely because those most hostile species will tend to either self-destruct or will not be allowed by superior civilizations to thrust their hostile intentions into the Cosmos. It is unlikely that equally powerful, equally advanced beings would ever meet."
 
NASA is going to bomb the Moon with a kinetic weapon. For what purpose, they refuse to say.
 
Massive energy waves of UV, gamma and x-ray become kinetic energy when they slam into our atmosphere and Earth, at magnitudes that are in such proportions mankind cannot match it or even calculate it. Our Earth is a mass and has kinetic energy due to its orbit and motion. When that motion is hit with high speed energy (such as will come from supernova blasts of UV, gamma and x-ray energy) the end result is heat and will probably be in magnitudes that are devastating.
 
Depending on the exact nature of what Betelgeuse does, our Sun and our planet are grossly outmatched.
 
Some Supernova, such as SN 1987A are devastating because they blow mainly at their poles and at their equator.
 
Like this:
 
 
 
 
 
SN 1987A had ejected matter about 20,000 years before the progenitor star went to Supernova. The brightest ring in the photo above is how the Supernova has energized that long-ago discharged matter. The primary emissions of that have been very powerful x-ray energy waves that have been sustained for far longer than most SN events. Our scientists are still pondering that phenomenon.
 
Any planet in that neighborhood is either severely damaged or totally destroyed.
 
If you recall from earlier in the essay, Betelgeuse has already spun off at least a solar mass that reaches out at least 20,000 AU. Once that shock wave hits that matter we can expect similar results when Betelgeuse goes into Supernova mode. I have not seen any estimates regarding SN 1987A that anything close to 1 solar mass had been ejected prior to the big event.
 
The two larger rings are similar to what will be slamming into Earth. Those two rings are huge blasts of energy sort of like the GRB's mentioned above. Anything in their path will be destroyed.
They are literally a nominally circular wall of death and destruction.
 
If you look at the Betelgeuse photo above (second graphic in the essay), note the bright spot. Many scientists say that is probably one of the poles of the star and it is aimed in our general direction.
 
There may be too much UV, gamma rays and x-rays to even be safe outside at night, or even inside. Underground might be safe, but will have to check into how deep underground would be safe. As for me, it would depend on how long underground one would have to stay. I have little interest in being like the Morlocks in 'The Time Machine'.
 
Some complain about 'space junk'. Well, the big push broom may well be on its way to solve much of that problem. On the other hand, there might not be anyone left around to bitch about space junk.
 
It is safe to say we have trashed our own planet, crapped in our own nest. The Continuum that is the Universe may be handing down its verdict on that very soon.
 
There might be a GRB created by this Supernova and blasts through our solar system. That would not be a good thing.
 
Our atmosphere may be swamped with gamma ray, GRB, x-ray and UV to the point that we are living in an F-5 or greater muon storm and that would not be a good thing. Our atmosphere might turn into a fireball that could range from 1,000 to 2,000 degrees. That would not be helpful to the survival of any life on our planet.
 
Sort of reminds me of a classic line from a movie. The comedian Sinbad played a science professor and then football player in 'Necessary Roughness'. When he was discussing Supernova with the science class his comment was funny: "When one of these babies goes off in your neighborhood it won't do you no good at all to cop a squat in the shade".
 
Right, it will do no good at all!
 
Summation?
 
When Betelgeuse blows and the effects reach Earth, we will definitely have a light show. One might be able to see their shadow at midnight, from 400 light years away and even get a sunburn, possibly a lethal sunburn. If the arrival of that supernova notice includes deadly levels of gamma and x-ray radiation, Houston, we have a problem. If the blast is large enough that the blast wave itself and/or the super-heated plasma reach our Solar System, Houston, we have a bigger problem. It could also deliver very powerful bursts or sustained UV levels that would be harmful to fatal for life on this planet.
 
If a GRB is headed our way, well. We don't have anything further to worry about on this Earth. It will probably be annihilated, the planet sterilized and evolution can start over.
Maybe Earth v.2.0 can get it right next time.
 
As for the blast effects or sheer change in solar wind and force changing orbits of comets, asteroids, space junk, we will not know that answer until after the Big Blow happens. All of those potential threats to our planet might become a moot point after the Betelgeuse effect finishes with remodeling Earth. If there are any astronomers and astrophysicists left they would be busy for years recalculating the known comets, asteroids and new space debris pushed into our part of this Universe. They would be recalculating to see which ones are going to hit Earth on their new trajectories. It might be that if Betelgeuse does not kill off all life on this planet, an asteroid the size of North America does that gets pushed into our path by SN Betelgeuse.
 
The concept of Bad Day may well turn out to be Bad Eons.
 
We can also anticipate a massive surge of neutrinos just before we get the big light show. Those particles are pretty much inert and just pass right on through anything, but we have never had a massive blast of neutrinos just before the Supernova event that was so close to our home planet.
 
Scientists did detect a massive surge of neutrinos just before we knew that SN 1987A appeared in the sky as a new bright light. Even at 168,000 light years away SN 1987A was visible with the naked eye.
 
I am wondering if they have been detecting massive neutrino outflows from Betelgeuse. If that is the case, the Really Big Show is very close to beginning.
 
Those neutrino releases are just before the core goes super-critical and the Supernova is a done deal. I have always thought neutrinos are 'smart particles' because had they not left just prior to the Supernova they would have been forever trapped in a neutron star or a black hole. It is the super critical state of the core that sheds the neutrinos just before the big event occurs.
 
If the levels of UV, gamma and x-ray radiation are sustained over a long period of time, and that is quite possible, Houston, we have a major problem. Life on this planet would not be sustainable. The Type II SN 1987A maintained very high levels of x-ray output but it was far enough away from Earth at 168,000 light years to do no damage here.
 
I am not in the least bit cynical about this matter. I accept that there is nothing at all mankind can do to change the natural course of this Universe ­ or this Planet Earth. Hello, if current history is proof of anything most modern day people cannot even change directions when headed the wrong way down the street.
Saving Earth is way out of the league of what I see on TV as the 'leaders of change'.
 
I sort of look at it this way. Can Betelgeuse screw up this planet any more than we already have? That is doubtful since we have turned it into a toxic cesspool. Our lack of good stewardship of this planet is a pretty harsh indictment as to our unfitness to call it ours.
 
Nanotechnology could pull us out of the gutter we have made of our home planet, but.. mankind might not get the chance to rise to ET level if Supernova Betelgeuse deals us the wrong hand of cards.
 
The technical term that might best fit would be energy wave irradiation. If one wants to sterilize something they can use high temperatures or intense light or energy wave irradiation. That might be so severe in a major blast of energy from a Supernova that seeds would not even germinate in the soil. It is not theoretically possible, it is technically probable. Anyone stocking up on seeds might want to consider fertile soil as well because after these blast waves of energy our topsoil may be sterile and will not germinate anything.
 
But you can bet all you have that Barky, Pelosi, Reid, et al will have a slick plan to save us all from the inevitable. Those dollar-grabbers and shekel-peckers will not stop until they are made to stop.
 
One day our Sun will also start the process of dying and swell up to many times it size. In doing so, Global Warming aficionados will finally have found their truth when the Earth is cremated by our Sun as it engulfs Mercury, Venus and Earth, maybe Mars. That should emphatically prove the finality of global warming. That day is coming and not a damned thing Al Gore and the Gorettes can do about it. Fortunately, that is apparently a long way off into the future and currently global temperatures have been declining rather than increasing.
 
Until about 2 weeks ago it was still long sleeve and jacket weather here in the EU. Seriously, lows were around 40-43F and highs were not passing 62-65F and very windy with chill factors in May, June and early July. A cool Spring time in May, June and July was a first for me.
 
Just as I was proof reading this for the last time it is 12:45pm, July 18, 2009, and the temperature is 54 degrees F, 24mph winds with gusts well over 35mph. It is quite cool and pleasant for July, and quite odd. Due to the wind chill factor people are wearing long sleeve shirts and light jackets today, on July 18, in the central part of the EU.
 
Shh! The Sheeple are not supposed to know that and too much chatter about truth (declining temperatures) might wake the mushrooms.
 
Actually, when Betelgeuse blows all we can do is hope for the best and that we do not have a very bad day here on Earth. The Universe is a powerful and dangerous place. We either have luck or we do not. Time will tell if our fate is already sealed and we are living on borrowed time.
 
Maybe what we get is a good dose of reality and dipshits like Bush, Blair, Cheney, Clinton, Barky, Pelosi, Abe Foxman, et al come to realize that they do not mean Jack Schitt in the bigger realm of this Universe, or Bill Gates or Rockefeller for that matter.
 
I think I will start checking out solid granite locations that are deep and stocking up on seeds and other necessities just in case.
 
You know what they say: It ain't over until the Fat Lady sings, but the sad part is that when the Supernova lights first come on from Betelgeuse it may be time to skip acts one and two and go straight to the aria.
 
This could be a colossal light show or it could be the worst day mankind has ever had.
 
Karl Schwarz
kwschwarz@chello.sk
 
Disclaimer
 
Donate to Rense.com
Support Free And Honest
Journalism At Rense.com
Subscribe To RenseRadio!
Enormous Online Archives,
MP3s, Streaming Audio Files, 
Highest Quality Live Programs


MainPage
http://www.rense.com


This Site Served by TheHostPros