from the not-the-brightest-star-in-the-galaxy dept.
New image shows Betelgeuse isn't dimming evenly:
From Earth's perspective, one of the brightest stars in the sky is the red supergiant Betelgeuse. Found in the constellation of Orion, it's large enough and close enough that when it's destroyed in an inevitable supernova, it will put on a spectacular light show for anyone who happens to be on Earth to see it. So when the star started dimming late last year, speculation rose that the show was about to start.
Because Betelgeuse is so large and so close, it's actually possible to resolve some details of its surface rather than simply seeing it as a point source of light. Some astronomers have used the Very Large Telescope at the European Southern Observatory to do just that, and they've found something extremely weird: Betelgeuse's dimming isn't even.
As you can see in the before-and-after images above, Betelgeuse was more or less spherical about a year ago. By December, it was most decidedly not. While the upper hemisphere of the star looked much as it had a year earlier, the lower portion looked diffuse and distorted, with at least two regions of distinct brightnesses.
What in the world could be going on here? Betelgeuse has always been a variable star (though far less variable than at present), and there are a couple of potential causes. Both are related to the star's enormous size, which means that its surface layers are only distantly and indirectly related to the fusion reactions that are taking place in its core.
Previously: Waiting for Betelgeuse: What's Up With the Tempestuous Star?
Related Stories
Waiting for Betelgeuse: what's up with the tempestuous star?:
Have you noticed that Orion the Hunter—one of the most iconic and familiar of the wintertime constellations—is looking a little... different as of late? The culprit is its upper shoulder star Alpha Orionis, aka Betelgeuse, which is looking markedly faint, the faintest it has been for the 21st century.
When will this nearby supernova candidate pop, and what would look like if it did?
[...] Fortunately for us, we're safely out of the 50 light-year 'kill zone' for receiving any inbound lethal radiation from Betelgeuse: A supernova would simply be a scientifically interesting event, and put on a good show. Ancient supernovae may have had a hand in the evolution of life on Earth, and a recent study suggests that one might even have forced early humans to walk upright.
What would a supernova in Orion look like? Well, using the last supernova in the Large Magellanic Cloud (also a Type IIb event) as a guide, we calculate that when it does blow, Betelgeuse would shine at magnitude -10. That's 16 times fainter than a full moon, but 100 times brighter than Venus, making it easily visible in the daytime sky. A Betelgeuse-gone-supernova would also easily cast noticeable nighttime shadows.
[...] For now though, we're in a wait-and-see-mode for any New Year's Eve fireworks from Betelgeuse. Such an occurrence would be bittersweet: We would be extraordinarily lucky to see Betelgeuse go supernova in our lifetime... but familiar Orion the Hunter would never look the same again.
Also at CNET
Dimming Betelgeuse likely isn't cold, just dusty, new study shows:
Late last year, news broke that the star Betelgeuse was fading significantly, ultimately dropping to around 40% of its usual brightness. The activity fueled popular speculation that the red supergiant would soon explode as a massive supernova.
But astronomers have more benign theories to explain the star's dimming behavior. And scientists at the University of Washington and Lowell Observatory believe they have support for one of them: Betelgeuse isn't dimming because it's about to explode—it's just dusty.
In a paper accepted to Astrophysical Journal Letters and published on the preprint site arXiv, Emily Levesque, a UW associate professor of astronomy, and Philip Massey, an astronomer with Lowell Observatory, report that observations of Betelgeuse taken Feb. 14 at the Flagstaff, Arizona, observatory allowed them to calculate the average surfacetemperature of the star. They discovered that Betelgeuse is significantly warmer than expected if the recent dimming were caused by a cooling of the star's surface.
The new calculations lend support to the theory that Betelgeuse—as many red supergiant stars are prone to do—has likely sloughed off some material from its outer layers.
"We see this all the time in red supergiants, and it's a normal part of their life cycle," said Levesque. "Red supergiants will occasionally shed material from their surfaces, which will condense around the star as dust. As it cools and dissipates, the dust grains will absorb some of the light heading toward us and block our view."
It is still true: Astronomers expect Betelgeuse to explode as a supernova within the next 100,000 years when its core collapses. But the star's dimming, which began in October, wasn't necessarily a sign of an imminent supernova, according to Massey.
Previously:
New Image Shows Betelgeuse Isn't Dimming Evenly
Waiting for Betelgeuse: What's Up With the Tempestuous Star?
CNet:
By looking at Betelgeuse at UV wavelengths, researchers were able to get a better look at the star's surface and atmosphere. They discovered a mass of bright, hot material moving outward from the southern hemisphere of the star at around 200,000 miles per hour and eventually being ejected into space.
[...] Dupree and her team believe this material may have begun to cool down as it moved through space, forming a dense dust cloud that partially obscured Betelgeuse. It just so happens that Earth was in the perfect position to "see" the dust cloud front on, as if Betelgeuse shot the dust cloud directly at us. If it happened on the opposite side of Betelgeuse, we'd likely never even know.
Explosive outbursts are expected from star's[sic] at the end of their life and when they die or "go supernova," they release a shockwave that spews elements into space. The activity is critical to fill space with heavy elements like carbon, which then can become new stars elsewhere in the universe, so these stars are critical to the cosmic Circle of Life.
Betelgeuse is dying, and ejecting bright material that then cools.
Recently:
(2020-03-09) Dimming Betelgeuse Likely Isn't Cold, Just Dusty, New Study Shows
(2020-02-18) New Image Shows Betelgeuse Isn't Dimming Evenly
(2019-12-30) Waiting for Betelgeuse: What's Up With the Tempestuous Star?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:33PM (3 children)
According to Damon T Berry stars have stargates inside them, including the sun. He said you can see a black square at the solar south pole during the equinox. Perhaps this is the final opening of beetlguese stargate.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:55PM
or space dust.
(Score: 4, Informative) by nitehawk214 on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:29PM (1 child)
The only star that has a stargate inside of it was put there by Samantha Carter. It blew up.
"Don't you ever miss the days when you used to be nostalgic?" -Loiosh
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @08:16PM
https://youtube.com/watch?v=kgmanZphjyA [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @04:57PM (13 children)
CIA drones hovering above the telescope.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:08PM
or space dust
(Score: 2) by Sourcery42 on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:19PM (8 children)
I can't help thinking Ford and Zaphod are somehow responsible
(Score: 2) by theluggage on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:47PM
Don't panic, but the great collapsing hrung disaster is upon us!
(Don't expect an adequately explored reason for this post...)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:50PM (5 children)
Nope was the Vogons. The plans have been on display on proxima centauri for 3 months so how you don't know is anyones guess.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:57PM (4 children)
Maybe he was busy listening to Vogon Poetry.
(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday February 18 2020, @09:24PM (3 children)
Maybe he was busy
listening todying from Vogon Poetry.Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 18 2020, @09:43PM (2 children)
I tried writing Vogon poetry 2008-07-23, but no audience members survived my efforts.
The troll is contemptible lonely and sad
pathetic retard angry stupid and mad
In vain effort its pain to somehow be consoling
fills its days and its nights with down modding and trolling
Lacking creativity
it substitutes vulgarity
The lowest form of an attack
from a troll whose heart is dark and black
Each day many nyms they are used as its tool,
it just cannot know how it looks such a fool.
(note "down modding" was "star clicking" in my original posting.)
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(Score: 2) by edIII on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:33PM
You totally failed though. I survived!
Though for a moment, I did fade. Had to punch myself in the nuts to escape.
Keep trying :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:57PM
Oh, I don't know, the metaphysical imagery was really particularly effective...well, some of it..
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Wednesday February 19 2020, @12:39AM
It's just a Vogon construction fleet. Not their fault you're not keeping abreast of local developments.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 18 2020, @05:49PM (2 children)
Alien mega structure around star.
(yes, the contractor is aware that the star may go nova. But that won't be for a long time. At least not before the contractor has been fully paid. The contractor assures all residents that the structure will definitely withstand the star going nova. Don't worry! It's completely safe! I am fully confident. Even if I just happen to be away golfing when the star goes nova.)
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(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:20PM (1 child)
Even if it's "tomorrow morning" cosmically speaking, that could still be a couple thousand years from now. Don't worry about it.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:00PM
If it really is tomorrow morning, it will also be 700 years ago.
Space is so bit time gets weird.
(Score: 1) by ze on Tuesday February 18 2020, @06:15PM (7 children)
Is it just me or are there some faintly dimmer, nearly horizontal, streaks running across the top and bottom of it in both pics, and the darker region of the 2nd one looks maybe connected to the lower streak?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:14PM
It's just you.... take 325mg of aspirin immediately.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @07:26PM (5 children)
Uranus has streaks.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday February 18 2020, @09:47PM (4 children)
To avoid that adolescent Uranus joke, I would point out that the correct pronunciation is more like URINE-us.
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(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:01PM (1 child)
The correct pronounciation is U-REC-tum.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:20PM
Agh! I've been saying Ur-GOATSE-us.
(Score: 3, Informative) by barbara hudson on Wednesday February 19 2020, @02:21AM (1 child)
SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday February 19 2020, @02:21PM
I intended URINE-us to be funny. I complain about an adolescent joke while providing another adolescent joke as a "correction".
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @08:15PM (1 child)
I'm not saying it's gonna blow, but it's gonna blow!
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:03PM
Maybe. We'll know for sure before Feb. 28. (Feb 21 is the approx. std. point of inflection of the curve, but it's a bit uncertain.)
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:19PM (2 children)
The planet Ilum which orbits Betelgeuse. It's pointed this way.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 18 2020, @10:55PM (1 child)
Uranus is pointed this way
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 19 2020, @02:27AM
There's Klingons around Uranus.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 26 2020, @07:00AM
Oh wait three times already. Well now it's getting brighter again. Guess what?