The universe is full of wonders, and the supergiant star Betelgeuse is no exception. This star, located approximately 548 light years away from Earth, is one of the brightest stars in our night sky, and its end-of-life stage is catching the attention of space enthusiasts around the world. In 2019, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted something unprecedented happening with Betelgeuse, sparking a flurry of speculation and theories.
As a red supergiant star, Betelgeuse is aging quickly, having already burned through its hydrogen fuel and transitioned to helium and heavier elements. It’s in a phase of expanding and cooling, which eventually leads to the fusion of heavier atoms. Once its iron core reaches critical mass, the giant star unleashes a massive explosion known as a supernova. Betelgeuse’s enormous size makes it a prime candidate for such an event, and it’s possible it has already occurred, though its light won’t reach Earth for another few centuries.
The recent chatter about Betelgeuse began when it started to dim in late 2019, losing two-thirds of its normal luminosity as seen from Earth. This behavior is not unusual in stars, but given Betelgeuse’s end-of-life stage, it caught the attention of astronomers. The dimming persisted and reached a 35% reduction in brightness in mid-February 2020, before brightening up again in April. Scientists were eager to investigate, and theories about the cause of the “great dimming” ranged from a giant dust cloud obscuring the star’s light to the star going supernova.
With all eyes on Betelgeuse, scientists eagerly turned to the Hubble Space Telescope for answers. What they uncovered was a massive plume of dust that had arisen from the star’s surface and caused a star quake. The shockwave blew out an entire chunk of the star’s surface, equivalent to 400 million times greater than what is typically seen in our Sun’s Coronal Mass Ejections. This plume was over one million miles across and marked the first time such an event had been seen.
The Hubble’s data provided groundbreaking insight into the death of a supergiant star and offered a better understanding of how these celestial wonders behave in their final stages. Though the future of Betelgeuse remains unclear, the possibility of it going supernova in our lifetime remains a tantalizing prospect. Just imagine the spectacle of seeing a supernova with our own eyes, without the need for a telescope. Better yet, the radiation from the explosion is unlikely to hit Earth, meaning that life on our planet will be unaffected—an astounding reminder of the vastness and wonders of the universe.
