Betelgeuse's Changes in Brightness (IMAGE)

Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian

Betelgeuse's Changes in Brightness

Caption

This illustration plots changes in brightness of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse, following the titanic mass ejection of a large piece of its visible surface. The escaping material cooled to form a cloud of dust that temporarily made the star look dimmer, as seen from Earth. This unprecedented stellar convulsion disrupted the monster star’s 400-day-long oscillation period that astronomers had measured for more than 200 years. The interior may now be jiggling like a plate of gelatin dessert.

Credit

NASA, ESA, Elizabeth Wheatley (STScI)

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License

CC BY-NC

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