![]() ![]() The 11th-brightest star dropped in magnitude two-and-a-half-fold. That eventual explosion explains why astronomers got excited when Betelgeuse started dimming dramatically in 2019. Someday, the star will explode as a supernova and give humanity a celestial show before disappearing from our night sky forever. Today, astronomers know that Betelgeuse varies in brightness because it’s a dying, red supergiant star with a diameter some 700 times larger than our Sun. Aboriginal Australians may have even worked it into their oral histories. A bright red dot called Betelgeuse marks Orion’s shoulder, and this star's strange dimming has captivated skygazers for thousands of years. ![]() If you stargaze on a clear winter night, it’s hard to miss the constellation Orion the Hunter, with his shield in one arm and the other arm stretched high to the heavens. ![]()
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