Betelgeuse dimming most likely caused by giant star spots - new study

[gary]

29th June 2020



Full press release here, with images :-
https://www.mpia.de/news/science/2020-08-betelgeuse

Paper at arXiv, "Betelgeuse fainter in the sub-millimetre too:
an analysis of JCMT and APEX monitoring during the recent optical minimum" by Dharmawardena et. al :-
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.09409.pdf

[Saturnine]

Interesting article, helps explain the dip in brightness, probably. Thanks for the link.

[foc]

Thanks for the info. Wonder if this report of Betelgeuse spots will go viral! Last Summer was a bit of a dud here, hope this year we get lots of smoke free opportunities to enjoy Betelgeuse and Orion.

[glend]

I prefer the Dyson Sphere Theory, more exciting, and we will never know for sure either way.

[billdan]

This article from ABC news explains what scientists believe is causing Betelgeuse to dim (dust clouds).


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-16/dimming-of-massive-star-betelgeuse-explained/12563330

[Max Vondel]

Brewing up and out the Carbon of life