Does the Brightening of Betelgeuse Portend The Immanent Occurrence of a New Galactic Supernova?
Betelgeuse is at it again.
Back in 2019, the red supergiant star, the bright and iconic right-shoulder of Orion had dimmed dramatically and uncharacteristically resulting in a flurry of speculation that the star was about to end its life in spectacular fashion as a Type-II supernova. That didn’t happen. It was later determined that the star had sustained a large-mass ejection, partially eclipsing the star, thus reducing its apparent brightness. Fierce stellar winds and large-scale mass ejections are consistent with the behavior of high-mass stars nearing the end of their lives.
Dr. James Daly takes us on a brief tour of the late-June night sky, centered on this year’s summer solstice, June 21, 2023. In our tour, Dr. Daly discusses why it would be almost impossible to observe Betelgeuse now if it were to go supernova in the next 2 or 3 months. The night-sky tour is followed by a discussion of the recent, unexpected and uncharacteristic brightening of Betelgeuse, a brief treatise on stellar evolution and why some stars and not others explode as such.
Does the Brightening of Betelgeuse Portend The Immanent Occurrence of a New Galactic Supernova?
Dr. James Daly of Astronomy for Change takes us on a brief journey to a hypothetical solar system where Betelgeuse has replaced the sun at the center.
Astronomy For Change: https://astronomyforchange.org
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