The news and online websites have been “chattering” of late predicting that the brightest star in Orion, Betelgeuse (Alpha Orion), because of its decreasing brightness prepares to explode and go supernova. This would be an amazing celestial event to observe without a doubt! Imagine the awe of seeing a supernova, or even a nova, go off in these times. Would it bring humankind to its knees in awe?
The predictions for the supernova were muddled. It could be soon. You know, in the cosmic scheme of things perhaps sometime in the next half century or so. So, are we to reckon that we do not need to purchase sky watching chairs in the near future?
Here’s the latest. The supernova watch is cancelled. Between the 7th and 13th of February the portending dimming of Betelgeuse hit bottom. Betelgeuse’s optical intensity now brightens. To be clear, the optical visibility of Betelgeuse varies with reasonable regularity, as many stars do. The justification for the supernova alert came from the fact that the recent variability was the result of an “unusually deep excursion” in Betelgeuse’s 430 day normal optical periodicity.
So we don’t need to panic, or prepare with rapturous intent for a cosmic cataclysm that would have occurred between 600 and 750 years ago. If you Google “distance to Betelgeuse” online estimates appear that the star lies between 600 and 750 light years distant. When we see the light from an object in space what we actually view is astronomical history. Reallocate your popcorn for viewing absurd movies with similar sounding titles and ask, “What can we learn from the recent Betelgeuse speculations?”
Well, astronomy has a lot of wobble in its numbers and certainly within its predictability. Because of messed up translations of the original entomology of the name of this notable star, no one agrees on how the star should be perceived. Translations vary from “severed arm” to “the armpit of Orion.” Does Orion need rotator cuff surgery or an organic deodorant?
Betelgeuse, loosely precession corrected to a position for January 1st of this year, aligns with 29 Gemini 01. Given that the 29th degree is assumed to be a “critical” degree and Gemini has to do with communication, expression, and clarity there of, would it be safe to surmise that the message is to ensure that facts are correct before declaring, that alternate points of view must be included in any decision, and that impeccable articulation prevails as the desired standard? It’s not a far stretch to see the need for such application in the collective.
A personal message from Betelgeuse suggests: when communicating with a person possessing an opposing opinion, bear in mind that contrary person arrived at the point of view they maintain based upon how they personally processed the data received. With that realization, perhaps an articulation, or rearticulation of intellectual source material and how it is applied could reduce divisiveness and polarization. Let’s find out.
The news has also been touting the second new “moon” of Earth. Not New Moon in the every month or so way. New moon in the sense of there’s a new object captured by the Earth’s gravity. The Catalina Sky Survey Telescope, which I can almost see out my office window, recently found Near Earth Object 2020 CD3, a small asteroid-like body temporarily grabbed by the Earth’s gravity. A few years back another such object was seized. Both objects will be with us for a while and then ejected back into near space, free of the Earth’s attractive forces.
This body is small. Reports indicate that it would fit in a living room, is comparable to a large refrigerator or perhaps the size of a car. If Chicken Little held a say in the matter, you would notice its arrival should it descend to Earth (not likely). Arguably, this object holds little to no astrological significance other that the matter of interest that the Earth occasionally interacts with objects close by.
In case someone not so keen on astrology approaches and taunts with, “How about that new moon, you stargazer person, you? How does that affect my future?” That could happen. A valid reply is that the querent in this matter would do well to vote for politicians who understand science and will clearly allocate astronomical research funds to locating Near Earth Objects, and their subset, Potentially Hazardous Objects, which could collide with Earth with catastrophic consequence. We need to know and prepare for these possibilities though they are predicted to be astronomically improbable as an occurrence.
Realizing that many might be hesitating under the influence of the line-blurring Mercury in Pisces, and given that the messenger stations in ten days in Aquarius, the next SkyScraping will outline post Mercury retrograde strategies to prepare for several consequential aspects on March’s docket...
More soon.