2 Suns? What Is This Really?

[TatsuRoll]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41927089...science-space/

At first I thought it was Betelgeuse, but then this article says it is a "rare optical illusion."

So a question, has Betelgeuse exploded? If so, is that it on the picture?

[grapes]

Betelgeuse has not exploded. I saw it last night.

From the article:

"The case of a mock sun 3 degrees and 25 arc-seconds to the left of the nearly set sun sounds incredible but has been recorded photographically." Indeed, Minnaert's description sounds nearly identical to the scene in question.

That's weird. The still from the video shows the two "suns" side-by-side--since the sun is only a half degree wide, the offset would be a half degree (left side of sun has moved over the full width of the sun, or vice versa) not 3 and a half degrees.

[Hungry4info]

So a question, has Betelgeuse exploded? If so, is that it on the picture?

Yes, but only in China. The rest of the world still sees Betelgeuse as it looked before the explosion.

I'm kidding of course, but perhaps you get the idea. If Betelgeuse exploded, you wouldn't need a day-time image from the other side of the world to verify it.

[eburacum45]

I'm rather skeptical about this video, by the way. Double suns have been reported very occasionally in the past, and if authentic this would be the first good image I've ever seen.
Here's a thread on Bautforum about a double moon.
http://www.bautforum.com/showthread....crescent-moon?
and also this link
http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf068/sf068g14.htm

But before accepting this as a rare photo of that phenomenon it would be nice to have more information. Camera trickery is so commonplace these days.

[NEOWatcher]

But before accepting this as a rare photo of that phenomenon it would be nice to have more information. Camera trickery is so commonplace these days.

I can accept this (although not blindly), there was a good description of a valid phenomenon, and mention of some optics that don't fit.

But; it would be nice to have better images. BTW, there's no link to a video yet, so I found one on youtube here (720p).

I do have to give credit to MSNBC in this case. They didn't have the "opposing side" where some woo scientist is interviewed with a lead in of "some scientists disagree". I wonder what the Chinese broadcast was saying.

[TatsuRoll]

There's a video of the Chinese Broadcast with translations in the description. I'll try to find it.