Short Betelgeuse Update--Open Science Thread
The red supergiant star, Betelgeuse, continues to dim. It is now at its dimmest point ever recorded.
Per my previous essay on this topic, the star, which is prone to go supernova at some point in the next 100,000 years, has been dimming to a shocking extent. Betelgeuse regularly dims and gets brighter, because it grows and shrinks over time about every 6 years. But in 180 years of observation, the star has never been this dim.
Initially, researchers thought it might reach the "dimmest" point of its cycle in the first week of February. Hello! We are here!
However, more refined measurements now show that the nadir of the dimming cycle may instead be Feb. 21 plus or minus 7 days. Nobody knows exactly for sure, because nobody has ever kept a 24x7 log of Betelgeuse's brightness over the past decades.
If the end of February comes and the dimming continues, then that's a second indication that Betelgeuse might be ready to give it up and make a fireball in the sky. The first indication is the completely unprecedented dimming itself.
Way more details than you want are here!
Open thread for science if anyone has anything interesting to discuss!
Comments
It is amazing
I can't believe how dim it is to the naked eye now. There was a Petersen Series Field Guide to Astronomy in my house as a child, and my dad took college astronomy, we had a 4" and 5" mirror scopes in my youth. So I knew more than a couple dozen constellations as a teen. Camped all my life, mostly under black skies so am quite familiar with this star, as much as any perhaps. I live under black skies now, and it is absolutely mind-blowing to have to look for it. It will be very interesting to watch this next month and see what happens.
We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein
Yeah, I know
It is really pale now, less bright than the star in Orion's lower right leg (Rigel, I think?).
It's almost hard at times to tell it is red in color--either that or my eyes are going in my old age!
I've heard that if you say it's name three times, it will come
back.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
LOL
good one
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
I was telling my daughter about this . . .
That one of Orion's stars may go supernova soon. She said, "if that is so, it has already happened."
Is it about 500 lightyears away?
Marilyn
"Make dirt, not war." eyo
Smart girl.
Around 700 light years with many saying approximately 724.
It's that approximate that is tricky.
Very nice thread apenultimate.
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Light Curves and Sobering Thought
Something very interesting could happen in the near future:
Clearly this dip is unprecedented during the past few years:
However, a more pronounced dip in intensity occurred coinciding with my birth. I wonder what that could portend …
Could it be...
[video:https://youtu.be/8_mePjkQW_c]
Regardless of the path in life I chose, I realize it's always forward, never straight.
Hmmmm . . .
You're right--it looks like it has dipped worse at least a handful of times from those charts. In the late 1940s and maybe a couple times in the early 1970s and a couple times in the early 1980s.
But, they have been claiming this is unprecedented dimming. I wonder what gives?
My expertise
To even begin to answer the "I wonder what gives?" question I would need to know the details of protocol and instrumentation during the time of each measurement.
RIP