Odd supergiant star Betelgeuse is brightening up. Is it about to go supernova?

By Tereza Pultarova published about 8 hours ago

'When it happens, the star will become as bright as the full moon, except that it will be concentrated in a single point.'



The red giant star Betelgeuse forms the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.
Betelgeuse is a red giant star that forms the left shoulder of the constellation Orion. (Image credit: Alan Dyer/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)


One of the brightest stars in the night sky has been getting oddly brighter, prompting speculations that it might soon explode in a supernova. Should we really look forward to such a dazzling celestial spectacle?

The star in question is Betelgeuse, a huge red-tinged star that sits at the left shoulder of the unmissable constellation Orion. Some 650 light-years from Earth, Betelgeuse usually ranks as the tenth-brightest star in the night sky. Since early April, however, the star has climbed to the seventh spot and currently shines at over 140% its "usual" brightness, according to the Twitter account Betelgeuse Status, which tracks the star's behavior.

Betelgeuse is a red giant, an enormous star that has burned up all the hydrogen fuel in its core and expanded hundreds of times beyond its original envelope. Astronomers believe the star is now fusing helium into carbon and oxygen, a phase in a star's life that lasts tens to hundreds of thousands of years and precedes the star's demise in a supernova explosion. Betelgeuse's recent antics, the beginning of which date back to 2019, have led some to speculate that the moment of its spectacular death might be near. If Betelgeuse were to go boom it would be the nearest supernova explosion in more than 400 years and it would be so bright it would be visible even in daylight.


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Odd supergiant star Betelgeuse is brightening up. Is it about to go supernova?
By Tereza Pultarova published about 8 hours ago
'When it happens, the star will become as bright as the full moon, except that it will be concentrated in a single point.'






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The red giant star Betelgeuse forms the left shoulder of the constellation Orion.
Betelgeuse is a red giant star that forms the left shoulder of the constellation Orion. (Image credit: Alan Dyer/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
One of the brightest stars in the night sky has been getting oddly brighter, prompting speculations that it might soon explode in a supernova. Should we really look forward to such a dazzling celestial spectacle?

The star in question is Betelgeuse, a huge red-tinged star that sits at the left shoulder of the unmissable constellation Orion. Some 650 light-years from Earth, Betelgeuse usually ranks as the tenth-brightest star in the night sky. Since early April, however, the star has climbed to the seventh spot and currently shines at over 140% its "usual" brightness, according to the Twitter account Betelgeuse Status, which tracks the star's behavior.

Betelgeuse is a red giant, an enormous star that has burned up all the hydrogen fuel in its core and expanded hundreds of times beyond its original envelope. Astronomers believe the star is now fusing helium into carbon and oxygen, a phase in a star's life that lasts tens to hundreds of thousands of years and precedes the star's demise in a supernova explosion. Betelgeuse's recent antics, the beginning of which date back to 2019, have led some to speculate that the moment of its spectacular death might be near. If Betelgeuse were to go boom it would be the nearest supernova explosion in more than 400 years and it would be so bright it would be visible even in daylight.

The great dimming

Betelgeuse is a variable star known for regular oscillations between brighter and dimmer periods. For more than 100 years, astronomers have observed Betelgeuse lighten up every 400 days, then drop to about half of its peak brightness and brighten up again. But in December 2019, the star unexpectedly dimmed beyond what had ever been seen before, hitting a low 2.5 times fainter than its usual dimmest shine. The cause of the event, since dubbed the Great Dimming, was later traced to an enormous expulsion of material from the star's interior that created a huge dust cloud that subsequently obscured our view of the star.

More:
https://www.space.com/is-betelgeuse-going-supernova?utm_source=notification