The Great Dimming of Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse Revealed - The Cosmic Companion June 16, 2021
A new look at the process resulting in the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse seen between 2019 and 2020.
The great dimming of Betelgeuse might now be explained, and no, Michael Keaton was not involved.
Near the end of 2019, the bright red star Betelgeuse grew noticeably dimmer in the night sky. Over the course of several months, one of the brightest, and most familiar, stars in the sky began to fade, an event which became known as the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse.
Examination of the star revealed the surface of the star — particularly the southern hemisphere — appeared darker than normal. Astronomers postulated a dark cloud of gas likely formed near Betelgeuse, blocking light from reaching Earth.
“Here we report high-angular-resolution observations showing that the southern hemisphere of Betelgeuse was ten times darker than usual in the visible spectrum during its Great Dimming. Observations and modelling support a scenario in which a dust clump formed recently in the vicinity of the star, owing to a local temperature decrease in a cool patch that appeared on the photosphere. The directly imaged brightness variations of Betelgeuse evolved on a timescale of weeks,” researchers report in Nature.
Read more: https://thecosmiccompanion.net/the-great-dimming-of-betelgeuse-betelgeuse-betelgeuse-revealed
Upcoming guests on Astronomy News with The Cosmic Companion
June 22 (s4/e25): Brittany Zimmerman, CEO of Yummet, on developing technology for space exploration and protecting the Earth.
June 29 (s4/e26): Alyssa Mills, Graduate intern at JPL, talks about the largest moon in the Solar System, Ganymede.
July 6 (s5/e1): SEASON FIVE PREMERE! Earl Swift, author of Across the Airless Wilds, a history of NASA’s lunar buggy!
+ many more amazing guests coming up
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