A couple of months ago, the scientists noticed an alarming decrease in the levels of brightness for Betelgeuse, a star situated next to Orion. Many speculated that this would be a sign of an imminent explosion.
Astronomers declared that this would not be possible, even though they were still not aware of what caused the dimming. The most critical point was registered in February, and since then, Betelgeuse started regaining its brightness levels.
It is normality for every star to undergo several changes in its formation throughout the time. For some of the stars, the changes can occur regularly, being classified as variable. While some of the stars are facing these changes, researchers have managed to predict the upcoming shifts. At the same time, there are stars whose changes are erratic. As far as Betelgeuse is concerned, some of its circles have been more regular than others.
The Betelgeuse Red Giant Will Not Turn Into Supernova Soon
Betelgeuse is highly appreciated since it is widely known to be the 10th star in terms of brightness levels. However, since the incident which causes it to lose its shining, it was succeeded by Orionis and Rigel. Probably the star was in one of its brightest periods when the researchers awarded the designations.
The star has lost almost 63% of its natural glow, and it was removed from the top 20 brightest stars in the Universe. Betelgeuse is now considered an impressive candidate for one of the closest supernova to our solar system. The sun is a red giant, which is very likely to explode but not as close as imagined. It will probably be seen dining in the upcoming 100.000 years.
The scientists are stating that the Betelgeuse brightness episode was caused by a cloud of dust that came from the interior of the sun when a series of cycles combined, resulting in a great emanation of dust.
