From what it could mean, to the various reasons for this phenomenon happening at all, join
me as we explore betelgeuse continuing to DIM!
What' s really happening?
Out in space in the Orion constellation, there is a very bright star in our night sky known
Betelgeuse.
To put it most simply, it is a red supergiant, and one that dwarfs many others stars in the
sky.
Such as the big star known as Rigel which it outsizes in a rather significant way.
Mainly because this star is 1.3 BILLION kilometers long.
That's basically three times the size of Rigel, which for the record is 97 million kilometers
long.
So yeah, definitely not a small star.
For a comparison, if some kind of cosmic event somehow dropped this massive star into our
own solar system and replaced our own sun with it (which obviously won't happen but
why ruin the moment here?), the mass of Betelgeuse would basically destroy everything from the
point of the sun all the way until Jupiter more than likely.
So you should be glad this isn't a thing that likely will happen...hopefully.
Betelgeuse is also the 10th brightest star in the sky overall, and it’s the 7th brightest
star visible from most of the U.S., Canada, Europe and the majority of the Northern Hemisphere.
What's that?
How big is Betelgeuse compared to the Earth?
I'm glad you asked!
The Earth is about 40,000 kilometers long in circumference.
Which means that this supergiant is 32,500 times bigger than us.
That's a lot.
Like really, that's a lot of mass for a single star.
So yeah, that's Betelgeuse on a very basic level.
But there is more going on here with this star than you realize.
Including the fact that one day this star is supposed to go Supernova, and when that
happens, it'll be a big deal in space for reasons we can talk about another time.
But what's getting a lot of people's attention right NOW is that Betelguese is dimming.
Likely in the literal sense, the star is dimming in a way that is clearly intentional/forced,
and many astronomers are trying to figure out what's going on with it.
"Wait a minute", you say, "didn't you just note that the star is going to go supernova
one day?
Couldn't this be a lead-up to that event happening?"
A good question, and most times, we would say yes, as this would be an indication that
the star was in the last phases of its current life and could/should go supernova at any
moment.
But, the problem is that based on projections of the star itself in terms of its life, it's
not SUPPOSED to go Supernova for tens of thousands of years yet.
Which means that this "dimming" is an atypical event, and one that scientists want to figure
out.
What's more, in a more recent report about the dimming itself, Villanova University astronomers
Edward Guinan and Richard Wasatonic noted that while the dimming is still going on,
it's happening at a much slower rate than before.
Which just makes the whole situation even more odd.
Now I'm sure you're wondering just how dim the star is actually getting, and that's a
good question as well.
I could bore you with talk about "magnitudes" or brightness, but let's just get to the heart
of the matter.
Over the course of the last few months, Betelgeuse has basically lost half of its usual brightness.
And for a star to go from its normal shine to about half in a few months is very unprecedented
in a star that isn't about to die.
Also, to be clear, astronomers have been watching Betelgeuse for a very long time, in fact,
they've been keeping their eyes on this star for over 180 years!
And at no point in time since they've been watching it has the brightness ever gone that
low.
It's at record lows even, and when you plot it all out on a chart, you see just how weird
this rapid dimming is, and it's got a lot of people in the science field scratching
their heads.
“The unusual behavior of Betelgeuse should be closely watched.”
noted one scientist watching the situation.
Another thing to note is that as the star starts to dim, its temperature drops as well.
Since September 2019, the temperature of Betelgeuse has lowered by 100 Kelvin.
If that continues, it could affect the star in a way that we're not expecting.
Of course, it's entirely possible that this IS the path to it detonating itself and becoming
a supernova.
We just don't think this is the case.
The life of stars is a very curious thing.
As they burn very, VERY brightly in the sky, and that affects a lot of things around them.
Take Earth for example.
If our star burned less brightly, and thus less hot, our planet wouldn't be in very good
shape.
In fact, our star is quite literally perfect in regards to how far it is from Earth, the
light and heat it emits, and even how much radiation it pumps out into space itself.
But that last bit is another topic entirely.
To burn like it does, it has a very particular balance of energy within itself.
This balance is between the gasses it creates, and the gasses it burns.
This goes for all stars, but not all stars are created equal as you hopefully know.
There are white dwarf stars, red dwarf stars, supergiants, neutron stars, pulsars, and more,
there's a wide menagerie out there, but they work on very similar principles in terms of
burning gasses for fuel.
For supergiants like Betelgeuse, the amount of energy that is needed to contain its massive
size (1.3 billion kilometers to remind you) is a massive strain.
Eventually, it's going to run out of fuel, and when that happens it'll start a process
that'll very likely end up with it exploding in space and going supernova.
This is one of many "natural" fates that stars face, but for Betelgeuse, the things this
explosion could inflict are numerous.
But how do we know it's near this point in its life?
We can tell by its age and the "phase of life" it's in that the gasses it uses to burn are
running out.
For the record, this will happen to our sun, but not for billions of years.
One of the reasons we know that Betelgeuse is having this happen to it is its size.
It's growing as it ages.
In fact, it's grown about 9% in recent months, and as it grows, the energy it needs to stay
together and burn increases, thus furthering its slow march to supernova state.
Now, obviously, WHEN it goes supernova, it'll be a big deal, but the question most like
to ask is, "will this affect Earth?"
The answer is no, because the distance between Betelgeuse and us is very far away.
There are some who feel that it's about 650 light years away.
That's because measuring objects in space due to their constant shifting and orbits
(not to mention the bending of light) makes it hard to pinpoint as a whole.
Regardless, even if it was a singular light year away it wouldn't have as much impact
on us as you would think it would.
So times that by hundreds and we'll be quite safe as a whole.
However, that doesn't mean we can't see it right now, and that doesn't mean we won't
be able to see its "transformation" once it goes supernova and then later on explodes.
As mentioned before, we already see Betelgeuse in the Orion Constellation.
So if you have a telescope and a clear night, you'll be able to see it, and that's in its
red supergiant form.
Now try and picture it as a supernova, which is many times the size of a supergiant.
Yeah, it'll be visible, and very much something that scientists as a whole are going to enjoy
viewing.
In fact, the last time a supernova occurred in our own galaxy was in the 1600's via Keplar's
Supernova, which obviously was a big deal.
But, the CLOSEST one happened in 1054 and created the Crab Nebula.
According to Chinese astrologers who noticed it, it was so bright you could see it in the
daytime.
So when Betelgeuse goes supernova, it's going to be a big deal, but with the dimming effect
going on like it is, many are wondering if something is happening that will prevent the
supernova phase from happening.
Unless...it's something a lot more basic.
Maybe...the star is just getting blocked.
Before we talk about what Betelgeuse might be getting blocked by, be sure to like the
video and subscribe to the channel, that way you don't miss any of our weekly videos!
"Blocked by what?" you ask, well, that would be dust of its own making.
You see, because of the phase of life that Betelgeuse is in right now, it's expulsing
a LOT of gas.
In fact, every 10,000 years it's expelling enough gas from itself that could make up
the star in our own solar system.
Why does this matter?
Well, gasses don't often just stay in their current state, especially when they're next
to the star they were expelled from.
The gravity of the star usually keeps it close.
What's more, if enough gas is in a certain area, it can condense and become things like
dust.
Which for the record is a process that led to the formation of the universe in many ways.
Anyway, there are some who speculate that the cause of the Betelgeuse's dimming is nothing
more than a massive dust cloud that is "hiding" the illumination of Betelgeuse.
This is not confirmed for record, and the timing of it would need some explaining.
Because obviously in the middle of 2019 this was not occurring, and then over the course
of a few months the dimming began, meaning that the dust cloud would've almost literally
had to have been condensed into existence in an incredible thickness to make it dim
the star.
Not impossible, but not likely, but again, it's just a theory.
Another theory is that of the magnetic field of the star.
The magnetic field has a big effect on what the star does and doesn't do, and in the case
of Betelgeuse, it appears as though the magnetic field is much stronger than it should be.
Why does that matter?
Well, in this case, due to the state of the star and the apparent strength of the field,
that would mean that the magnetic field is causing 'star spots' to form on the star.
What are those?
Well, you know how the sun sometimes has spots on it?
Ones you can see if you look at it up close and cover a certain areas of the sun?
It's the same principle, but in the case of Betelgeuse, these spots could quite literally
cover up half the surface of the sun.
Whether this is actually happening on the star is up for debate, and in truth, a lot
of what we think we know about Betelgeuse is up for debate.
Because while we do have a lot of estimates about what Betelgeuse is, what it can do and
more...they're just estimates.
One of the big reasons for this is that we honestly don't know the full mass of the star.
Most stars have companions in some way that can be used to determine its mass and size,
but Betelgeuse doesn't, and because of that we've had to use certain graphs and stars
to outline what we THINK could be the mass and size of Betelgeuse as a whole.
To that end, we could be entirely wrong about what's going on with it in regards to the
dimming, as well as when it'll go supernova!
In fact, there was a recent event that happened on Earth that made some scientists think that
Betelgeuse already went supernova!
What happened?
In short, a burst of gravity waves hit the Earth, or as scientists like to say, there
was a disruption in spacetime.
It wasn't long, or technically big, it happened for but a split second, but it noticed by
scientists on Earth, and as they studied it they realized that they had no clue where
it came from.
So how does this tie into Betelgeuse?
Well, when a star goes supernova, it's not unheard of for a gravity wave or "signal"
as it's sometimes called to be emitted by the dying star and be sent out through the
universe.
Since Betelgeuse is on its way to being a supernova, many wondered whether this was
the case.
But it wasn't, because when they looked up at the sky via their telescopes, Betelgeuse
was still there in its regular state.
What the wave is...is still unknown.
Just like it's still unknown what is causing Betelgeuse to dim.
It's not something we definitively know right now, and that's why many people are studying
it.
More than likely though, whatever is causing its dimming won't be able to affect its ascension
into its supernova state since it's the core of the star, and not the outer layers.
However, it should be stated that since we don't know what's causing the event, we honestly
can't say that for certain.
There are some who even think that whatever is going on with Betelgeuse is short-term.
Meaning that the star will likely return to its brightness eventually.
Which could potentially fit into the "dust cloud" theory as that might move out of sight
in the next few months depending on a few factors.
In the meantime though, until we know EXACTLY what is going on with Betelgeuse, all we can
do is look up and study it as best we can...and try to piece together the puzzle.
Thanks for watching everyone!
What did you think of this look at Betelgeuse and the potential answers for its dimming?
Do you think that there's something wrong with the star?
Or is this an outer force causing it to dim?
Let me know in the comments below, be sure to subscribe, and I'll see you next time on
the channel!