ASTRONOMY/PHYSICS QUESTION PLEASE HELP?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Danielle D
  • Start date Start date
D

Danielle D

Guest
Betelgeuse. The distance of the red supergiant Betelgeuse is approximately 427 light-years. If it were to explode as a supernova, it would be one of the brightest stars in the sky. Right now, the brightest star other than the Sun is Sirius, with a luminosity of 26Lsun and a distance of 8.6 light-years.

How much brighter than Sirius would the Betelgeuse supernova be in our sky if it reached a maximum luminosity of 1×1010 Lsun?

Apparent Brightness of Betelaguse/Apparent brightness of Sirius = ?
 
For the first one, I will assume that you meant '1*10^10 L(solar)'.

Take the luminosity of Betelgeuse and divide it by the luminosity of Sirius.

Luminosity is absolute though, so you'll need to divide the luminosity of Betelgeuse by it's distance, then divide it by the luminosity of Sirius divided by it's distance from earth.
The damping of the light should be negligible too.
 
Back
Top