Betelgeuse up close

Dr Mordrid

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Join Date: Apr 2001

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Betelgeuse up close

29 July 2009, 16:37

This artistâ€™s impression shows the supergiant star Betelgeuse as it was revealed thanks to different state-of-the-art techniques on ESOâ€™s Very Large Telescope, which allowed two independent teams of astronomers to obtain the sharpest ever views of the supergiant star Betelgeuse. They show that the star has a vast plume of gas almost as large as our Solar System and a gigantic bubble boiling on its surface. These discoveries provide important clues to help explain how these mammoths shed material at such a tremendous rate. The scale in units of the radius of Betelgeuse as well as a comparison with the Solar System is also provided. Image: ESO

Sharpest views of Betelgeuse reveal how supergiant stars lose mass

http://www.physorg.com/news168073732.html

(PhysOrg.com) -- Betelgeuse -- the second brightest star in the constellation of Orion (the Hunter) -- is a red supergiant, one of the biggest stars known, and almost 1000 times larger than our Sun. It is also one of the most luminous stars known, emitting more light than 100 000 Suns. Such extreme properties foretell the demise of a short-lived stellar king. With an age of only a few million years, Betelgeuse is already nearing the end of its life and is soon doomed to explode as a supernova. When it does, the supernova should be seen easily from Earth, even in broad daylight.

Dr. Mordrid
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Betelgeuse up close

Betelgeuse up close