The star of Orion has suddenly changed dramatically, and has returned to normal after a year? It's not that simple

Astronomers solve the mystery of the darkening of Betelgeuse.

Changes in Betelgeuse. From top to bottom, they are January 2019, December 2019, January 2020, and March 2020. ESO / M. Montargès et al

One of the astronomical headlines from the end of 2019 to the beginning of 2020 is whether Betelgeuse will explode.

The brightness of Betelgeuse has dropped significantly since the end of 2019, and this change is perceptible to the naked eye. So this red superstar of Orion attracted the attention of many people. For a while, there were many opinions about what was going to happen.

Betelgeuse is a massive star that has reached the end of its life and, according to general law, ends its life as a supernova explosion. According to popular parlance, it could erupt at any time within 100,000 years. Therefore, for its sudden darkening, some people think that it is a precursor to its outbreak. Although this statement is not based on evidence, it can make people have rich associations.

The latest findings of the International Astronomical Research Group also show that the darkening of Betelgeuse is not directly related to whether it will erupt or not.

Astronomers used the very large telescope of the European Southern Observatory to continuously track Andu Thaksura, unveiling the mystery of Betelgeuse's darkening. And their research results were published in the journal Nature.

According to the results of the study, the darkening of Betelgeuse was actually caused by "stardust" obscuring the line of sight.

Betelgeuse is an unstable star that has expanded so much that its surface is constantly changing. Huge bubbles keep appearing and disappearing.

Astronomers speculate that Betelgeuse once threw a large cloud of gas into space at some point before it dimmed.

Shortly after this gas was thrown, the surface temperature of Betelgeuse fell locally, and under its influence, the thrown gas also cooled rapidly, causing a large amount of gaseous matter to condense into solid dust.

Researchers refer to this process as the "birth of stardust."

"Stardust" is of great significance to humanity. The heavy elemental material produced by nuclear fusion through nuclear fusion in these stars is the basic raw material for Earth and terrestrial planets, humans and organisms.

It is also these "stardusts" that obscure Betelgeuse, causing its brightness to drop significantly in the Earth's line of sight.

Betelgeuse did not erupt, but the conjecture that Betelgeuse was going to erupt was understandable. After all, since 1604, there have been no new supernovae in the Milky Way.

The brightness of Betelgeuse has now returned to normal, but no one knows when it will come back to this time. After all, it is indeed getting closer and closer to the brink of an outbreak.

reference

A dusty veil shading Betelgeuse during its Great Dimming

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03546-8