Betelgeuse, the red supergiant star located in the Orion constellation that has been concerning astronomers back in 2019 during its “Great Dimming,” is now manifesting unexpected behavior once again. After astronomers analyzed data brought by Hubble and other observatories, they concluded that Betelgeuse had been through a surprising type of huge eruption that they had never seen before.
What happened is that a huge mass ejection occurred at the star, and it was so powerful that it caused the loss of a huge portion of its surface.
More information is needed
Scientists still have plenty to learn about the eruption that Betelgeuse has been through. Until that moment, we all have to admit that the images look terrifying:
Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse, Betelgeuse…
This supergiant star experienced a huge mass ejection of its visible surface back in 2019 – something never before seen in a normal star’s behavior.
Hubble observations are giving clues about this stellar mystery: https://t.co/iyfQbYt0Bt pic.twitter.com/bfsqX0iGrZ
— Hubble (@NASAHubble) August 11, 2022
Andrea Dupree, who’s an astrophysicist from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said in a statement that CNN quotes:
We’ve never before seen a huge mass ejection of the surface of a star. We are left with something going on that we don’t completely understand,
It’s a totally new phenomenon that we can observe directly and resolve surface details with Hubble. We’re watching stellar evolution in real time.
Despite being located over 642 light-years away from Earth, Betelgeuse can usually be seen as the tenth brightest object in the night sky. The first one is obviously the Moon, while Venus comes second.
Betelgeuse falls into the category of red supergiant stars, as it measures 617.1 million km in its radius, making it hundreds of times bigger than the Sun. Betelgeuse is also about 10 million years old, which makes it a relatively young star.
Back in 2021, astronomers managed to unpuzzle the mystery behind the dimming of the red supergiant star. Although scientists were concerned that Betelgeuse was about to explode, a gas bubble ejected by the star represented the reason for the ‘Great Dimming.’
