In the live chat tonight, I was asked when Betelgeuse will explode. The answer is, we don't know. :-) But that made me think about other stars that will blow, almost certainly before Betelgeuse does. I recorded my answer. The stars I mention are Sher 25 and Eta Carinae. For the record, I said that I thought Sher 25 was 6000 light years away; it's actually 6000 parsecs, or 20,000 light years away. I had the number right, but the unit wrong. :-) You can read all you want about Supernova 1987A on my Bitesize Pages, too.
What star will blow up next?
Explore fascinating insights on live chat discussions about which stars, like Betelgeuse, might explode next. Discover more now!
Written byPhil Plait
| 1 min read
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