Cool article about something kinda sorta Star Warsy -

[web]http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/tatooines-twin-suns-coming-to-a-planet-near-you-just-as-soon-as-betelgeuse-explodes/story-fn5fsgyc-1225991009247[/web]

It's been debunked several times over.

Check space.com, discovery.com or time.com.

The nova will be as bright as a full moon.

True.

Let the mass suicides begin!

thats not quite correct, and that article even gives conflicting info saying it will be about as bright as a full moon but it will hurt your eyes to look at it. It will brighten up the night sky enough to be a truly amazing experience, maybe not quite what the chinese saw around the 1200's but bright none the less. Certainly not anything like twin suns or something that can hurt our planet. I forget which one, but there is a massive star that is right in line to send a gamma ray either way close or right into us at some point, but nothing to worry about any time soon.

sorry, just trying to paraphrase the article.

To be more precise, the blast will be a magnitude -17 to -19 event. A full moon is a -18. The sun, at noon, is -26. You are correct, as with any stellar phenomena, it will burn the rods/cones in your eyes to view directly, unlike a full moon, which is reflected stellar light.