Nobody knows what’s going on with the colossal nearby star Betelgeuse

[Mike Wehner]

One of the more interesting astronomy stories that came out at the tail end of 2019 was the bizarre behavior of the nearby star known as Betelgeuse. It sits somewhere between 520 and 650 light-years from Earth, and that's extremely close in the grand scheme of things, making its behavior of particular interest to us here on Earth.

Months ago, scientists alerted us to the fact that Betelgeuse is getting dimmer. This massive star is currently a red supergiant, and the fact that it appeared to be dimming hinted at a number of possible outcomes, including a possible collapse and supernova explosion. Now, with several more weeks of observations under their belt, researchers have discovered that Betelgeuse isn't just dimming, it's dimming in a very bizarre way.

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Nobody knows what’s going on with the colossal nearby star Betelgeuse originally appeared on BGR.com on Sun, 16 Feb 2020 at 15:02:34 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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