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Great Dimming of Betelgeuse explained

Observations suggest that an unexpected dimming of the massive star Betelgeuse resulted from dust forming over a cold patch in the star’s southern hemisphere. This finding improves our understanding of such massive stars.
  1. Emily M. Levesque

    1. Emily M. Levesque is in the Department of Astronomy, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA.

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In December 2019, astronomers reported1 a surprising change in the appearance of Betelgeuse. The bright red star in the shoulder of the Orion constellation had begun dimming dramatically during the preceding two months. In the following weeks, Betelgeuse’s rapid and unprecedented dimming continued. By mid-February 2020, the star had plummeted to about 35% of its typical brightness2 before swiftly recovering over the next few months. The event captivated professional and amateur stargazers alike because such rapid and visible changes in the night sky are rare. Now, a year after Betelgeuse’s recovery from what has become known as its Great Dimming, Montargès et al.3 present a detailed picture of and compelling explanation for this strange behaviour.

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Nature 594, 343-344 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01526-6

References

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  2. Guinan, E., Wasatonic, R., Calderwood, T. & Carona, D. Astron. Telegr. 13512 (2020).

  3. Montargès, M. et al. Nature 594, 365–368 (2021).

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  10. Kravchenko, K. et al. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2104.08105 (2021).

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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