Betelgeuse explodes: Earth will see a 'second sun'

[Robert]

How long does it take the light to reach earth?
(1300 light years from Earth) found
Prob happened thousand years ago but we have not seen it yet.

I thought it was 600 light years from earth.
Anyway, if it's 1300 light years, then it takes 1300 light years to be visible for us.
(and if it's 600 light years away, then it takes 600 light years)

[Robert]

640 lightyears it is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betelgeuse

[Provost Harrison]

Well yeah, it could've exploded centuries ago and we just don't know yet...

[Docfeelgood]

However, with distance estimates in the last century that have ranged anywhere from 180 to 1,300 light years from Earth,

Maybe because it is shrinking?

[Lorizael]

Kind of. It has more to do with the fact that Betelgeuse is a variable star, which means its brightness and size change periodically. This change makes it difficult for scientists to get an accurate read on the star.

[germanos]

Anyway, if it's 1300 light years, then it takes 1300 light years to be visible for us.
(and if it's 600 light years away, then it takes 600 light years)

Could you explain to me how that works, please?

[MattBowron]

light travels distances over years, these distances are so enormous they're called lightyears, for instance our sun is 8 light minutes from Earth, respectively, meaning it takes 8 minutes for the light of the sun to hit the Earth. If the sun were say 1300 light years away, it would take 1300 years to notice how it is right at this moment of time. Is that a sufficient explanation?

[Dauphin]

I think germanos may have been being sarcastic.

That or he was confused by Plomp mixing his terms.

[germanos]

both actually

[-Jrabbit]

This is like predicting the past.

I'm a huge proponent of double suns. We should get together and form a Poly-based religion, develop a mythology for it and create a tax-exempt organization.

[Wezil]

That sounds interesting Jrabbit but I think I found a religion speaking my language.

TORONTO -- It's judgment day Monday for a Toronto church -- the "Church of the Universe" -- that has asked a Superior Court judge for an exemption to the country's marijuana laws for religious reasons.

If Madam Justice Thea Herman grants the exemption, it would strike down the laws prohibiting the possession, cultivation and distribution of marijuana.

"It would effectively legalize marijuana because every pot smoker would find a new religion," argued Nick Devlin and Donna Polgar, of the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, which opposes the bid.

They urged the court to weed out frivolous claims.

"The Church of the Universe ... offers marijuana -- however and whenever individuals want it," the lawyers stated in their factums filed in court.

"Simply put, the mere fact that one profoundly enjoys using marijuana does not beget a constitutional right to traffic it commercially."


It is expected that if the church wins the exemption, the federal government will appeal the decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

It's believed to be the first time a Canadian court has been asked to define whether a religion's illegal practices are protected by the Charter of Rights.

Lawyers Paul Lewin and George Filipovic, who represent two minister members of the church, argued the Church of the Universe views cannabis as sacred substance which brings them closer to God.

The religion also teaches that Jesus Christ was anointed with a holy oil, containing a key ingredient which translates as cannabis, court heard.

The two lawyers represent Peter Styrsky and Shahrooz Kharaghani, both minister-members of the Beaches Mission of God -- Assembly of The Church of the Universe (COU) location in east Toronto.

By outlawing marijuana, the state is infringing on the Universe church-goers' Charter right of Freedom of Religion, their lawyers argue. Styrsky, 53, and Kharaghani, 31, were charged with trafficking marijuana after they allegedly sold pot to two undercover cops who infiltrated their church as members in 2006.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2011/02/06/17175386.html

Wezil's going to heaven.

[-Jrabbit]

Nice.

[MattBowron]

talk about Jesus appearing from up on high

[MattBowron]

doublepost stupid computer