US EditionGemini North Directly Images Betelgeuse's Long-Sought Companion Star
HAWAII, JUL 21 – The companion star, about 1.5 times the Sun's mass, orbits within four times the Earth-Sun distance and explains Betelgeuse's six-year brightness cycle, scientists said.
- A team led by NASA Ames scientist Steve Howell published findings today revealing a close companion star orbiting Betelgeuse using Gemini North's Alopeke imager.
- The discovery followed renewed interest triggered by Betelgeuse's 2019-20 Great Dimming, which was explained by a dust cloud but prompted suspicion of a companion star.
- The companion star, which is young and blue-white, lies within Betelgeuse’s extended atmosphere at a distance roughly four times that between the Earth and the Sun, shines six magnitudes dimmer, and completes its orbit unusually close for a binary system.
- Howell noted that this discovery pushed the limits of what Gemini's high-resolution imaging capabilities can achieve, successfully demonstrating its potential and paving the way for similar future observations.
- Astronomers plan further observations in November 2027 when the companion reaches maximum separation, and estimate that tidal forces will cause the companion to spiral into Betelgeuse within 10,000 years.
Insights by Ground AI
Does this summary seem wrong?
39 Articles
39 Articles
Betelgeuse Isn't Alone. It Has A Very Dim Companion
Astronomers have discovered a companion star in an incredibly tight orbit around Betelgeuse using the NASA and U.S. National Science Foundation-funded ‘Alopeke' instrument on Gemini North, one half of the International Gemini Observatory, partly funded by the NSF and operated by NSF NOIRLab. This discovery answers the longstanding mystery of the star’s varying brightness and provides insight into the physical mechanisms behind other variable red…
·United States
Read Full Article
Coverage Details
Total News Sources39
Leaning Left3Leaning Right4Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Center
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources are Center
61% Center
L 17%
C 61%
R 22%
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
