Star you've all seen, reddish Betelgeuse, has dimmed a lot...fun update

Halbhh

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More fun stuff lately around Betelgeuse, a bright reddish star everyone has seen and most have wondered at.

Usually most dramatic astrophysical events aren't easily visible to the unaided eye, though of course some are. It's a lot of fun that one of the best known stars in the sky has been acting dramatically lately.

Betelgeuse is that reddish looking bright star on the top left shoulder of one of the best known constellations, Orion.

The 9th brightest star [whoops! was the 9th brightest....] of all if you count also the Southern Hemisphere, and don't count our own Sol.


800px-Orion_constellation_map.svg.png


More than one thread here noted the dramatic dimming (atm the Astronomy News thread was closed for review, so I decided to just post this interesting tidbit separately). Now...there is a possible (and if real, also enigmatic) gravity wave burst from a nearby region.

Gravitational waves are caused by calamitous events in the Universe. Neutron stars that finally merge after circling each other for a long time can create them, and so can two black holes that collide with each other. But sometimes there's a burst of gravitational waves that doesn't have a clear cause.
One such burst was detected by LIGO/VIRGO on January 14, and it came from the same
[a nearby] region of sky that hosts the star Betelgeuse. Yeah, Betelgeuse, aka Alpha Orionis. The star that has been exhibiting some dimming behaviour recently, and is expected to go supernova at some point in the future.
....
Andy Howell from Las Cumbres Observatory studies supernova and dark energy. He had something to say on Twitter too, and appeared to be having fun with the whole thing. He even walked outside to check up on Betelgeuse after the detection of the burst gravitational waves.
....
(tweet):
Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell
·
13 Jan 2020
Replying to @d_a_howell

Betelgeuse is not in the localizatiion region, but it is right between two of them, as you can see at http://treasuremap.space .


Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell

For the record, I do know that it can take hours for the shock to reach the surface. I didn't point that out initially because I didn't want people staying up all night to watch Betelgeuse. I was mostly joking (but I did walk outside because I couldn't resist).

34
00:13 - 14 Jan 2020

Andy Howell
✔@d_a_howell
Replying to @d_a_howell

It isn't Betelgeuse blowing up because:
- It is outside the GW localization region.
- The burst might not even be real.
- The burst was probably too short.
- No neutrinos were detected
- Betelgeuse's dimming is well explained.
Me walking outside to check = buying a lottery ticket


Astronomers Detect a Burst of Gravitational Waves From The Direction of Betelgeuse


Well....:)....I think I'd do what he did: just go out and have a look anyway.

It might be interesting for those that have looked at constellations stars routinely to see if they can notice Betelgeuse looking any different than before.

At the moment Orion (the constellation with Betelgeuse) should be visible and might be worth a look around 10p. (south-southeast quadrant of the sky for most people)

Can you see it as dimmer?

Betelguese-AAVSO-1979-to-2019.jpg

Betelgeuse is Dimming . . . Why? - Sky & Telescope
 
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Halbhh

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The Bible says the new earth won't have a sun or moon... think it will have stars?
Not anyway of knowing, but sometimes I wonder if the new Earth might still be under a heavens that would be like what we've seen. That's only speculative.
 
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Halbhh

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See for Yourself [if Betelgeuse looks dimmer to you]

Use this photo to help you find and estimate Betelgeuse's magnitude using Aldebaran, Bellatrix and Rigel. Magnitudes are shown in parentheses.
Bob King

Thankfully, nearly everyone on the planet can do this. Whether you live in the Atacama Desert or downtown New York, Betelgeuse is easy to see. Once you've found it, use Bellatrix and Aldebaran to determine its brightness to an accuracy of one-tenth of a magnitude. For instance, if Betelgeuse appears midway in brightness between Bellatrix and Aldebaran its magnitude would be about 1.3. If a little fainter or brighter one way or the other add or subtract additional tenths of a magnitude.
Betelgeuse is Dimming . . . Why? - Sky & Telescope
 
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Brightmoon

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You can easily see Betelgeuse ( Orion) in January just go outside right after sunset, face south and look overhead . I can see it in NYC all winter. Venus is out also and is bright enough to be seen at twilight. Planets don’t twinkle.
 
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Aldebaran

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You can bet it's due to global warming....somehow.

The star is dimmer because it injected its energy into the Earth, causing the earth to heat up. Of course, there's a "man-caused" element here as well. If not, it will be invented, just like my own theory.
 
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Halbhh

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You can easily see Betelgeuse ( Orion) in January just go outside right after sunset, face south and look overhead . I can see it in NYC all winter. Venus is out also and is bright enough to be seen at twilight. Planets don’t twinkle.
I also found a useful picture in post #8, which will help people gauge what they are seeing.
 
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Chesterton

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It might be interesting for those that have looked at constellations stars routinely to see if they can notice Betelgeuse looking any different than before.

At the moment Orion (the constellation with Betelgeuse) should be visible and might be worth a look around 10p. (south-southeast quadrant of the sky for most people)

Can you see it as dimmer?
Yes, I definitely notice it's dimmer. I saw it last night and thought "what's up with Betelgeuse?" and then I remembered I had seen this thread about it. :)
 
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Astrophile

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Yes, I definitely notice it's dimmer. I saw it last night and thought "what's up with Betelgeuse?" and then I remembered I had seen this thread about it. :)

When I last looked, on Thursday the 6th of February, Betelgeuse was similar in brightness to Bellatrix (magnitude 1.64) and slightly brighter than epsilon Orionis (magnitude 1.70).
 
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Halbhh

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When I last looked, on Thursday the 6th of February, Betelgeuse was similar in brightness to Bellatrix (magnitude 1.64) and slightly brighter than epsilon Orionis (magnitude 1.70).

Yes, getting interesting!

I saw this update the other day:
The Latest on Betelgeuse, Plus a Bright Supernova and New Comet Iwamoto - Sky & Telescope

And noticed one estimate in a Feb 5th update that seems pretty interesting to me, or several actually, but this one too:

(UPDATE Feb. 5: Minimum expected around Feb 21).

Something to watch for in a reasonable time frame. :)
 
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Halbhh

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Betelgeuse has brightened a lot, and it's quite interesting to read attempts to figure out what that means.​


I've just created a few posts on the most interesting aspects of whether it's close to supernova time.

 
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AV1611VET

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More fun stuff lately around Betelgeuse, a bright reddish star everyone has seen and most have wondered at.

Betelguese = the coming of the Branch

Zecharia 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
 
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