33 Facts About Betelgeuse

In 1920, Betelgeuse became the first extrasolar star whose photosphere's angular size was measured.

The Earth-observed angular diameter of Betelgeuse is exceeded only by those of R Doradus and the Sun.

Variation in Betelgeuse's brightness was described in 1836 by Sir John Herschel, when he published his observations in Outlines of Astronomy.

The technique contributed some of the most accurate measurements of Betelgeuse while revealing bright spots on the star's photosphere.

Pulsating semiregular variable star, Betelgeuse is subject to multiple cycles of increasing and decreasing brightness due to changes in its size and temperature.

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However, Betelgeuse's brightness is known to vary irregularly, making predictions difficult.

Betelgeuse is a variable star whose visual magnitude ranges between 0.

At its faintest, Betelgeuse can fall behind Deneb and Beta Crucis, themselves both slightly variable, to be the twentieth-brightest star.

Betelgeuse is generally considered to be a single isolated star and a runaway star, not currently associated with any cluster or star-forming region, although its birthplace is unclear.

However, later evaluation of the Hipparcos parallax measurements for variable stars like Betelgeuse found that the uncertainty of these measurements had been underestimated.

Lines in the spectrum of Betelgeuse show doppler shifts indicating radial velocity changes corresponding, very roughly, to the brightness changes.

On 13 December 1920, Betelgeuse became the first star outside the Solar System to have the angular size of its photosphere measured.

Once considered as having the largest angular diameter of any star in the sky after the Sun, Betelgeuse lost that distinction in 1997 when a group of astronomers measured R Doradus with a diameter of 57.

Since 1943, the spectrum of Betelgeuse has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified.

In 2004, astronomers using computer simulations speculated that even if Betelgeuse is not rotating it might exhibit large-scale magnetic activity in its extended atmosphere, a factor where even moderately strong fields could have a meaningful influence over the star's dust, wind and mass-loss properties.

Betelgeuse has no known orbital companions, so its mass cannot be calculated by that direct method.

Consequently, it is likely that Betelgeuse has not always had its current motion through space but has changed course at one time or another, possibly the result of a nearby stellar explosion.

In 1994, it was reported that Betelgeuse undergoes sporadic decades-long dust production, followed by inactivity.

Betelgeuse is a red supergiant that has evolved from an O-type main sequence star.

That main sequence version of Betelgeuse would have been a hot luminous star with a spectral type such as O9V.

Betelgeuse's time spent as a red supergiant can be estimated by comparing mass loss rates to the observed circumstellar material, as well as the abundances of heavy elements at the surface.

Betelgeuse appears to undergo short periods of heavy mass loss and is a runaway star moving rapidly through space, so comparisons of its current mass loss to the total lost mass are difficult.

However, the first dredge-up occurs soon after a star reaches the red supergiant phase and so this only means that Betelgeuse has been a red supergiant for at least a few thousand years.

Time until Betelgeuse explodes depends on the predicted initial conditions and on the estimate of the time already spent as a red supergiant.

Betelgeuse's suspected birthplace in the Orion OB1 association is the location of several previous supernovae.

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Betelgeuse is not likely to produce a gamma-ray burst and is not close enough for its X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, or ejected material to cause significant effects on Earth.

Betelgeuse has been spelled Betelgeux and, in German, Beteigeuze .

Betelgeuse is often mistranslated as "armpit of the central one".

In traditional Chinese astronomy, the name for Betelgeuse is as the Chinese constellation originally referred to the three stars in the girdle of Orion.

In Tahitian lore, Betelgeuse was one of the pillars propping up the sky, known as Ana-varu, the pillar to sit by.

In South African mythology, Betelgeuse was perceived as a lion casting a predatory gaze toward the three zebras represented by Orion's Belt.

Sanskrit name for Betelgeuse is ardra "the moist one", eponymous of the Ardra lunar mansion in Hindu astrology.

In 1979, a French supertanker named Betelgeuse was moored off Whiddy Island discharging oil when it exploded, killing 50 people in one of the worst disasters in Ireland's history.