March 10, 2019

The stars and nebulae that we generally see or capture at night belong to our galaxy only, and at present, there are roughly 100 billion stars in our galaxy let alone the other interstellar objects. Some stars are supergiants, who are on the verge of exploding, while some are still young or reached the half way in their life, like our Sun. These stars are born in the extremely violent and chaotic regions of this Universe that consists of dust and gases. As we all know, these stars are light years away from our solar system, and the supergiant stars might have already exploded into supernova hundreds of years back but we will only be able to see it in these present years or in the coming hundred years. That is the vastness of the space, and yes, we are only talking about our galaxy, let alone millions and million galaxies floating endlessly in this universe. 

One such example of a red supergiant star is Betelgeuse, located in the constellation Orion at a distance of about 640 light years. This red supergiant is approximately 1400 times larger than our Sun and it is so huge that it would easily engulf our solar system’s planets till Jupiter. Betelgeuse is the second brightest star in the Orion constellation, but as the laws of nature are not always delightful, this star’s brilliance comes with a heavy price. To put on a show of such luminosity, it is bound to use up its fuel rapidly and so, this giant here is nearing the end of its life. Betelgeuse is all set to explode as a supernova in the coming thousands or million years, or has it already exploded? We would never know. It is impossible to know which ones have exploded. A beautiful mystery, isn’t it? But it is certain that whenever Betelgeuse explodes, with such enormous brightness, it would be a sight to behold. Guess what, the star has already faded to the rock bottom in the sky as per the recent reports of the astronomers. So, we might be the fortunate ones to witness the death of a star (supernova), but at the same time the hopes are high for the upcoming generations.

Orion constellation rising in the sky

In the image above, is the prominent Orion constellation, with 3 stars in a row forming a belt of the Orion, which is very easy to spot in the nightsky and on the left, the encircled star is the Betelgeuse for those who do not know its location.

So what is the message that is being conveyed to us time and again? The law is uniform, whether it’s for the living beings or the celestial objects. Whatever is born, has to serve its purpose and later, turn into ashes. We all possess the knowledge of life cycle, but can we say the same thing about wisdom behind it? A star born in the midst of chaos, has to burn for millions or billions of years in order to support life on the planets like Earth and when its time is done, it explodes and takes everything along with it. So, that’s what this is all about, fulfilling the prescribed duties and leaving this material existence for the journey to the beyond. Creation, preservation and destruction are the three pillars of this Universe. This is the Order of material nature and is applicable to all the inhabitants of this universe. 

People, its season has arrived. Take out your binoculars or telescopes and gaze at the Orion constellation under the dark sky. Look for this red supergiant star on your left, which marks the right shoulder of the ‘hunter’. Remember, it is not just another random star; you will be looking at one of the most popular stars, “soon to become a supernova”. Clear night sky to all!