A lot of gas as reported by Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy as it blows out its outer levels as it continues to evolve towards its end. The size is from our Sun to Neptune's orbit and is gasous materials about 2/3 the mass of the Earth. Perhaps in my life I'll get to witness a visual SN in our galaxy, probably from a white dwarf I would guess. This is a fun article to read. Here is the link: http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/04/25/betelgeuse_red_supergian...
As long as the rotational axis of the SN isn't aligned with the solar system. That would be a total bummer. I remember reading that at least one future SN candidate has already been found that is aligned with us perfectly. When it goes, the gamma-ray burst will definitely change things here, and not for the better. We can detect SN gamma ray bursts from galaxies all over the cosmos, at incredible distances. One happening in the Milky Way, even on the other side of the galaxy, is a scary thought if the geometry is unfavorable to earth. Visually stunning, yes, but a potential destroying angel for any beings that happen to be living along the path of the gamma ray burst. On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 9:22 PM, Jay Eads <jayleads@gmail.com> wrote:
Perhaps in my life I'll get to witness a visual SN in our galaxy, probably from a white dwarf I would guess.
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Chuck Hards -
Jay Eads