Free Astronomy Magazine July-August 2023

4 JULY-AUGUST 2023 ASTRO PUBLISHING How long until Betelgeuse explodes? by Michele Ferrara revised by Damian G. Allis NASA Solar System Ambassador I n recent months, the alpha star of Orion, Betelgeuse, has returned to popular discussion. This time not for a sharp drop in brightness due to a mass ejection, but because of a sudden increase of almost 50% in its predicted magnitude. Since Betelgeuse is a leading candidate for the role of next galactic super- nova, its restless behavior has re- newed the debate about its more- or-less imminent explosion. We have already extensively re- ported on the scientific events and peculiar characteristics concerning this red supergiant in the Septem- ber-October 2020 issue , and we refer readers who want to deepen their knowledge of this star to that arti- cle. Here we will limit ourselves to highlighting the different points of A telescopic view of Betelgeuse, the red super- giant star in the constellation Orion that will one day explode as a powerful supernova. [ESO/ Digitized Sky Survey 2. Ack.: Davide De Martin]