Betelgeuse supernova

Question

people keep saying that the star Betelgeuse may go supernova soon. Isn't the star 700 light years away though? Are we seeing the star live when it goes supernova, or will we be seeing it as it went supernova 700 years ago? Couldn't Betelgeuse already have went supernova 500 years ago and nobody knows it yet because of the light speed and distance?

Answer 1

Yes, if we see the star go supernova, we'll actually be seeing how it was about 600-700 years ago. The would put the explosion having actually occurred in medieval times!