Sheril Kirshenbaum

Our sun is big. It’s 864,000 miles or 1,392,000 km in diameter. Or 109x wider than Earth. But it’s also an average sized star.

Some stars are much bigger.

Betelgeuse, in the constellation Orion, is a red supergiant star ~700x the size of the sun.

If we replaced our sun with Betelgeuse, it would stretch past Jupiter's orbit. https://universe.nasa.gov/news/237/what-is-betelgeuse-inside-the-strange-volatile-star/ #space #science

What is Betelgeuse? Inside the Strange, Volatile Star

A blazing red supergiant shining brilliantly in the night sky, Betelgeuse is a star that has captured attention for centuries.

NASA Universe Exploration
May 30, 2023 at 3:47pmMetatext
Show threadPaul MurphyMay 30, 2023
@Sheril - Seems like a bad idea to me, but I’m no scientist! 🤷🏽‍♂️
Show threadSon Light LifeMay 30, 2023
@Sheril Wonderful and miraculous! And some say there is no Creator. 🤔
Show threadMark MaguireMay 30, 2023
@Sheril Jawdropping. Thanks for posting and injecting a bit of stellar awe into the afternoon.
Show threadGATEKEEPERMay 30, 2023
@Sheril
Show threadRai Aren 🖖✨📚🇺🇦May 31, 2023
@GatekeepKen @Sheril Amazing! 🤩
Show threadMichael PorterMay 30, 2023

@Sheril I stopped calling our Sun an “average” star when I learned that something like 75% of stars are red dwarfs. It’s in the middle, size-wise, but it’s big compared to a large majority of stars.

It also bothered me that red dwarfs got the shaft in texts (early high school) that I taught out of - they barely rated a mention in descriptions of properties and life cycles of stars.

Show threadLevel 98 🇺🇦May 30, 2023
@MichaelPorter @Sheril A median star?
Show threadMichael PorterMay 31, 2023
@level98 @Sheril The median star would still be a red dwarf 😊
Show threadLevel 98 🇺🇦May 31, 2023

@MichaelPorter @Sheril Good point, well made.

A red dwarf would also be the most fashionable (a la "mode"). 😀

Show threadMichael PorterMay 31, 2023
@level98 @Sheril You’re a dad, aren’t you? 😄
Show threadPaul KoenigMay 31, 2023
@MichaelPorter @Sheril it’s basically a mid-range star. Certainly not the most common type or size. Using “average,” while technically valid because there are 4 kinds of average, is inviting all kinds of trouble with this kind of distribution.
Show threadMichael PorterMay 31, 2023

@Sheril For those that have dug into this thread… There’s a very nice chart that gives abundances, sizes, masses, you name it, of different types of stars. Our Sun is a “G” type star.

http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/startype.html

The Classification of Stars

Show threadShadow, First of His NameMay 30, 2023

@Sheril i posted something similar on the size of stars that's 10,000 times bigger in the early Universe.

https://social.everythingbagel.me/@Shadow/110455149873747176

Show threadserklarvelMay 30, 2023
@Sheril I'm impressed by the size of Betelgeuse, thanks for sharing this 🙂
Show thread🥥 Tucker Carlson's Nuts 🥥May 30, 2023
@Sheril 🥥 Thank you for this star information, Sheril.
Now please, nobody say Betelgeuse 3 times. Thank you. 🥥
Show threadAxperteMay 30, 2023
@Sheril i vote for UY Scuti or better Stephenson 2-18 :D
Show threadBodlingMay 30, 2023
@Sheril <writing note to myself> Don't replace sun with Betelgeuse!
Show threadNlroundaboutMay 31, 2023
@Sheril Big out there. Infinitely big.
Show threadNItzzyMay 31, 2023
@Sheril wth for realllll???
Show threadRai Aren 🖖✨📚🇺🇦May 31, 2023
@Sheril Wild! 🤩 🌞 💛
Show threadMichael PorterMay 31, 2023

@Sheril Thanks for starting this, Sheril… stellar evolution is a favourite topic of mine 😄

Just remembered another cool factoid. While Betelgeuse is huge, it's only ~10x the mass of our Sun, give or take. That means the average density of Betelgeuse is about a *millionth* the density of air at Earth's sea level – It's been nicknamed a "red hot vacuum” 🤯

That said, the *core* is still very dense and hot, enough to carry on nuclear fusion for a little while longer!

Show threadtbgosalvezMay 31, 2023

@Sheril I learned in college that VY Canis Majoris would go out to Saturn's orbit

"Betelgeuse" is a cooler name though 🙂