This one’s for you, Kendall. Momentous portents are in the offing.
According to the Huffington Post, the red giant star Betelgeuse is collapsing and could go nova at any time. The claim comes from Dr. Brad Carter of the University of Southern Queensland. Betelgeuse is already one of the brightest stars in our sky, and Carter believes that if it does nova it will be so bright it will look like we have two suns for a while. Goodness only knows what craziness that would cause, especially if it happens in 2012.
Exeunt in Maya costume muttering “the end of the world is nigh!”
Update: Phil Plait is a boring party pooper.
2012 is just when the light from the Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster will reach us.
That might explain why poor Ford had to bail out and become an interstellar Guide-writer…
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/01/21/tech/main7269888.shtml
The collapse of Betelgeuse is an important plot point in Robert Sawyer’s “Calculating God”…
I arrived here to late to be frightened 😉 but I think it would be way cool to have a faux second sun. Although I’m guessing it would last a while and I’d get tired of having to use black out every night….