August 12, 2022

Phases of the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse

An article accepted for publication in “The Astrophysical Journal” reports an analysis of the situation of the star Betelgeuse examining its recovery after what was called the Great Dimming. A team of researchers used a number of instruments including the Hubble Space Telescope and other ground-based and space observatories to reconstruct the history of that event and to examine its consequences. Betelgeuse is returning to what it was a few years ago but not exactly because the colossal coronal mass ejection, confirmed once again by this study, which caused the Great Dimming has also altered stellar cycles that had existed for at least two centuries.