Huge orange star above Earth could explode at any moment

Humanity may be about to experience the first supernova visible to the naked eye in over 400 years, as a supergiant star appears to be close to exploding.

Not one to be overshadowed by 'trade wars', actual wars and asteroids which were but now aren't a threat to Earth; it would appear one of the stars in the night sky may now be gearing up for a colossal cosmic event.

According to astronomers, the Betelgeuse red supergiant star, appears to be on its last legs due to its increasingly volatile behaviour in the past couple of years.

Situated in the Orion constellation, Betelgeuse is noticeable in the night sky thanks to its orange glow. However this may not be the case for much longer.

Back in 2019, NASA noted that Betelgeuse's brightness dimmed by about 60%, leading some scientists to wonder if it was entering a 'pre-supernova' phase, an event later explained as a a surface mass ejection.

Betelgeuse, captured by the Hubble telescope (Andrea Dupree (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA), Ronald Gilliland (STScI), NASA and ESA)

Fast forward four years and the star would begin acting up once again, with The Guardian explaining that Betelgeuse was glowing and dimming at 'twice as fast as usual', and in 2024 the American Association of Variable Star Observers revealed how the star had dimmed by 0.5 in the opening months of the year.

So, what's going on?

When could Betelgeuse explode?

Well it's a bit of a good news/bad news situation on that front.

It's impossible to predict exactly when the star will explode, however, scientists predict Betelgeuse will enter into a supernova anywhere within the next 10,000 to 100,000 years.

Orion constellation, including Betelgeuse, seen in the Southern Hemisphere (Alan Dyer/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Which means you could very well look out your window tomorrow and witness a supernova — or this could happen on any of the other 99,999 years.

"We conclude that Betelgeuse is... a good candidate for the next galactic supernova," wrote the authors of one study, which predicted it could be in as little as 'tens of years'.

EarthSky adds that Betelgeuse is also between 430 light-years and 643 light-years away from Earth, so we wouldn't see it immediately.

What will happen when Betelgeuse explodes?

For those who can vaguely recall their school science lessons, the death of a star is marked by an explosion, which ejects gas and various matter into the galaxy, before it collapses into a black hole.

Which would be very bad news — if the star was close enough to impact Earth.

Fortunately, this isn't the case with Betelgeuse.

A conceptual image of what a star going into supernova could look like (Getty Stock Images)

What will betelgeuse look like when it goes supernova

Given that we're at a safe enough distance, astronomers are excited by the prospect of witnessing the Betelgeuse supernova. According to Big Think, the exploding star would 'shine approximately as brightly as the full Moon' and reach maximum brightness after around '10 days.'