Betelgeuse

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STEREO_Betelgeuse

What is Betelgeuse? Inside the Strange, Volatile Star

6 min read

A blazing red supergiant shining brilliantly in the night sky, Betelgeuse is a star that has captured attention for centuries.

Article2 years ago
This image has three panels: one on the right, taking up about half the image, and two stacked on the left. In the upper left is a Hubble image of Betelgeuse. The star looks like a glowing ball of yellow light with a bright yellow circle in the center that fades outward to a dark orange. The outer edges appear hazy. Below the image of Betelgeuse are three scale bars. The first shows the size of the star as seen in the Hubble image above. Below that is a scale bar showing the size of Earth’s orbit, which is about a 15% the length of the star’s size. Finally, the last scale bar shows the orbit of Jupiter, which is about 70% as long as the star’s size. The panel on the right shows a black background with many stars of different sizes dotted around the image. The stars of Orion are called out with light white lines drawn between the major stars. An arrow points to one star at the upper left, the location of Betelgeuse.

Meet the Workaholic Star, Betelgeuse

2 min read

by Dave Prosper of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific The bright reddish star marking the shoulder of Orion, the…

Article2 years ago
Image of white dwarf stars

When Dwarfs Meet Giants and Other True Cosmic Fairy Tales

4 min read

It’s easy to get lost in fantasy worlds through science-fiction movies and novels, but did you know that some of…

Article5 years ago
Small specs of white and tan drift by, and a large, irregular shape floats into the image from the left, traveling to the right and down until it disappears off the bottom of the frame.

Be Glad You Don’t Have to Dust in Space!

4 min read

Come springtime you might be ready to throw open the windows and break out the feather duster, because that’s a…

Article6 years ago