A new spin on Betelgeuse's boiling surface

Betelgeuse is a well-known red supergiant star in the constellation Orion. Recently it has gained a lot of attention, not only because variations in its brightness led to speculations that an explosion might be imminent, ...

Betelgeuse before, during and after the Great Dimming

When a prominent star in the night sky suddenly dims, it generates a lot of interest. That's what happened with the red supergiant star Betelgeuse between November 2019 and May 2020. Betelgeuse will eventually explode as ...

Does Betelgeuse even rotate? Maybe not

Betelgeuse is the well known red giant star in the corner of Orion the hunter. The name translated in some languages means "armpit of the giant," which, I think of all the star names, is simply the best! Betelgeuse has been ...

Did Betelgeuse consume a smaller star?

What's going on with Betelgeuse? In recent years it's generated a lot of headlines as its luminosity has shifted dramatically several times. The red supergiant brightened by almost 50% earlier this year, triggering speculation ...

Red giant Betelgeuse was yellow some 2,000 years ago

An interdisciplinary team centered around a Jena astrophysicist utilized observations from antiquity to prove that Betelgeuse—the bright red giant star in the upper left of the constellation Orion—was yellow-orange some ...

Using ancient observations to classify stars

Stars don't usually evolve fast enough for humans to notice them change within one lifetime. Even a hundred lifetimes won't do—astronomical processes are just too slow. But not always. There are some phases of stellar evolution ...

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