Almost Christmas eve

Posted on December 23, 2025 Posted in Memories, UncategorizedTagged 642, Betelguse, Cloud, Explosion, Life, light years, matter, Star, Supernova, Time1 Comment

What happens if we see a supernova on Christmas eve? It could happen, the star Betelguse in the constellation Orion is a Red Giant and fluctuates in brightness as if it is flinging off layers of matter. The variability and it’s massive size means astronomers think it might be due to explode in 1000 to 1,000,000 years.

But Betelguse is 642 light years away from us, so it might already have exploded. We wouldn’t know until the light reaches us. Then for a glorious couple of weeks the light would outshine the brightest stars and possibly be visible in daylight.

Supernovas fade after a few weeks, the star stuff is all burnt up or exploding out in a cooling cloud that will eventually stabilise into a nebulous cloud. Examples include the Crab Nebula.

Meanwhile back on Earth because of the date of its imagined eruption, I wonder what the reaction of the population would be? Secular or religious, it would be interesting.

🌃 Night and bonfires

Posted on November 15, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Bonfire night, Clouds, Explosion, Fireworks, Flash bang, Night, Sparkle, Street lightsLeave a comment

The apple tree shimmers in the wind, shadows envelope it and suck out the colour from the leaves. The sky shades from dark brown to black as the clouds flit by. Sulphur Street lights making orange highlights.

Overhead a firework flashes, the whizz bang startles me… Laughter from excited children in a neighbours garden…. No bonfires on bonfire night, but fireworks for the week before. Some so loud the cats jump and startle. Frightened by the sparkle of unexpected explosions.

So many people seem intolerant of pet’s needs. They don’t seem to care how frightening it is for them. I tell mine that it’s only a loud noise and to be calm. I think if I talk quietly to them it helps…

Ker-ak another rocket flies overhead. Meanwhile I wait for a clearing in the sky. A meteor shower is due. No chance, it stays cloudy, more rain and cloud forecast…

Twisted sunrise

Posted on January 10, 2020January 10, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Astronomical, Astronomy, Betelguse, Explosion, Fainting, Life, Massive star, Milky-way, Poem, Poetry, Red Giant, Science, Space, Star, Super novaLeave a comment

Betelguse the star is shrinking.

Fainting they say.

On the shoulder of Orion,

it’s getting fainter.

Red Giant,

stellar wonder,

obese and middle aged?

Perhaps your sides are about to split.

Red Giants can’t stay inflated.

They use up all their fuel.

Puffed up and massive.

Suddenly they can pop like a balloon.

Not enough energy to push out,

the star will fall inwards,

then boom!

Bounce out…

In a million years or so?

You might be a Supernova!

Make a Betelguse nebula.

Then Orions shoulder will flower.

And we may see an exploding star.

The first in the Milky-way since 1604.

Fireworks

Posted on January 1, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Chemicals, Electrons, Explosion, Fireworks, Light, New years day, Photons, Science, Spectrum, Trying to understandLeave a comment

IMG_20200101_002756_887

Sodium nitrate, sulphur and carbon. Mixed together make gun powder. That is the explosive mixture they put into fireworks. The ratios of the different elements determine the burning characteristics. Strontium makes red, sodium yellow, copper green, magnesium bright white, other elements make different colours. Cobalt? Possibly blue. The elements burn at different temperatures. Each element, when heated, excites electrons in its atoms. As they cool down again photons of light are given out (emitted). The colour depends on the energy the photons release. Bear with me it gets complicated! In the same way you can tell what elements are in the sun or other celestial objects by their emission lines. If you look at a spectrum (rainbow of colours), given out by the light of the sun there are gaps, these correspond to gases like Hydrogen and Helium.

I don’t know enough science to explain properly.

Anyway the fireworks have stopped so I might go to bed.

Almost a Sacred Duty.

Posted on September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Audley, Coal mining, Coroners inquiry, Disaster, Explosion, Halmerend, Minnie pit, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Play, TheatreLeave a comment

We went to see a production of Almost a Sacred Duty tonight. A play and presentation at the New Vic theatre. The start was a brief history of what had happened in 1918 by a local historian. This was followed by a play with people from the present and three characters from one hundred years ago. It was about the Minnie pit disaster in 1918, the 18 months it took to find the 156 bodies of men and boys working in the mine who died in the disaster and about 80 miners who survived.

The inquest was held in 1919 after the last body was found. After the hearing, which took weeks, the conclusion was that dust in the mine had contributed to the explosion although nobody was found accountable.

The people acting were playing present day residents who were commemorating the disaster and also played people from 1919 who were at the inquest. The whole thing was only about 45 minutes long but it was really good.

Jim Worgan is a mining historian who gave a short presentation.

Sue Moffat wrote the play and it was directed by Anna Poole. There were three professional actors plus a community cast and the play was supported by the Minnie pit centenary commemoration group, the heritage fund, and New Vic borderlines.

The play used information from William Cooke, a local historian and writer who had given permission to use his book ‘The Minnie pit : Disaster and Controversy”.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Explosion

🌃 Night and bonfires

Twisted sunrise

Fireworks

Almost a Sacred Duty.