When we were children, the stars in the night sky were nothing more than tiny, twinkling dots that we’d wish upon. In a way, they seemed so majestic and magical. But little did we know that as we got a little older, we’d learn that those randomly scattered lights in the sky are actually much larger than we’d ever imagine and, not to mention, serve a purpose other than repeatedly twinkling. As our knowledge of stars expands, so does our interest in them.
That said, perhaps the fairly recent news on the star, Betelgeuse, will pique your interest. Betelgeuse, the 11th brightest star in the sky and the second brightest star in the constellation Orion, has been exhibiting “strange” behavior. Let’s just say astronomers noticed that the star was getting dimmer. But what does this mean? Experts predict Betelgeuse will soon explode during an experience called a supernova!
Since December, astronomers have been regularly observing the star. Particularly, they’re interested in seeing whether the star continues to get duller or eventually regains its initial brightness like nothing ever happened.
“We are keeping a good eye on it,” said Astronomy Professor, Edward Guinan, at Pennsylvania’s Villanova University.
But there’s a good chance that Betelgeuse won’t be reigniting its energy.
Villanova Astronomer, Richard Wasatonic, was one of the first people to witness the changes in Betelgeuse. Based on how the star changed over time, the expert is confident that it is, in fact, about to blow up as expected.
“There does not seem to be any sign of the dimming stopping,” Wasatonic said.
In fact, the star has never done anything like this based on observations. For approximately for decades, astronomers have witnessed Betelgeuse going through periods of dimming and then brightening again. This time, though, it appears that the star has lost two-thirds of its normal brightness. With its rapidly declining visibility, astronomers are crossing their fingers that the supernova will occur soon.
“It would be astounding. No person alive today will have seen anything so glorious as what will happen when Betelgeuse blows up,” said Astronomer Andy Howell.
What exactly is a supernova, though?
In simple terms, it’s the massive explosion (death) of a star as it runs out of nuclear fuel. As the star’s core gets increasingly heavy and eventually collapses, the star officially goes out with a bang.
Although a star explodes approximately every second somewhere in the universe, they only occur every 50 years or so within our own galaxy, that is, ones that are actually visible from Earth. Thus, this makes them a relatively rare event for us. Pretty cool if you ask me!
Watch below to hear more about Betelgeuse’s possible near-future supernova.
