
"Star blows up! News at 11"
I think the news media would have a daily update on this phenomenon, plus lots of talking heads discussing what will happen to the Earth from such a nearby event. This discussion will go on for several months until Betelgeuse fades from the daytime sky, and after a year there will not be much. But once the high energy particles begin to flood the solar system and produce aurora all the time, perhaps 5 - 10 years later, THEN the news media will again start to report on 'cosmic ray fluxes' and possible human health effects.
There will be lots of speculation about what will happen to the Earth when the supernova ejecta begin to arrive, but that will take hundreds of years and not be considered much of a threat.
Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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