About 7 months ago, I wrote a post about astronomical observations of the dimming of the red supergiant star Betelgeuse, and what that dimming might imply. The fate of red supergiants is to end their lives in a supernova explosion, and so there was speculation that Betelgeuse’s dimming might be a signal that the supernova was about to occur. However, Betelgeuse did not go supernova, and the star’s behavior appears to have returned to normal. So what happened to dim the star? Astronomers now believe they know.
The surface of Betelgeuse is always changing. Giant bubbles of gas grow, shrink and move around within the star, and occasionally it burps one out. Before the Great Dimming began, Betelgeuse released one of these bubbles. Then, a patch of the star’s surface cooled down, and this temperature drop allowed the gas to cool enough to condense into solid dust.
The newly formed stardust, capable of diffusing and absorbing a significant amount of starlight from the star, greatly reduced the amount of light getting to the Earth from this star. This is what caused the apparent dimming of Betelgeuse.
This is nowhere nearly as interesting as a supernova explosion, but it is interesting to understand that production of stardust is capable of reducing starlight by such a large amount.
Comments are below the fold, but first, here’s a word from our sponsor:
Here at Top Comments we welcome longtime as well as brand new Daily Kos readers to join us at 10pm Eastern. We strive to nourish community by rounding up some of the site's best, funniest, most mojo'd & most informative commentary, and we depend on your help!! If you see a comment by another Kossack that deserves wider recognition, please send it either to topcomments at gmail or to the Top Comments group mailbox by 9:30pm Eastern. Pleaseinclude a few words about why you sent it in as well as your user name (even if you think we know it already :-), so we can credit you with the find!
Top Comments (July 3, 2021):
From belinda ridgewood:
Top Mojo (July 2, 2021):
Top Mojo is courtesy of mik! Click here for more on how Top Mojo works.
Top Photos (July 2, 2021):
Thanks to jotter (RIP) for creating it and elfling for restoring it!
