Betelgeuse is a red supergiant on the verge of exploding in a supernova explosion, which could happen within the next 1,000 years.
When the star Betelgeuse, which forms the left shoulder of the Orion constellation, begins to brighten in the night sky, the subject of when it will go supernova arises somewhat frequently in mainstream debate.
Betelgeuse dimmed between December 2019 and February 2020, then it appeared to brighten by up to 50% between May and June 2023.
Will a Betelgeuse supernova endanger Earth? And, if Betelgeuse does go supernova, will it be so brilliant that observing it through a telescope would be hazardous?
Betelgeuse is 640 lightyears away, far enough away to not pose a direct threat to life on Earth, but it would burn very brightly in the sky for weeks, about as bright as the full Moon and plainly visible during the day.
Because this brightness will be focused in a single point rather than spread across the entire disc of the full Moon, observing it through a telescope at its peak brightness may be hazardous.
However, when Betelgeuse explodes, it will most likely not be as bright as the Geminga supernova, which is considered to have occurred some 300,000 years ago (when modern Homo sapiens were emerging).
