MORE ON BETELGEUSE

Hey Space Placers!

Here's more on dimming mystery star Betelgeuse in Orion.

I photographed the constellation last night and it is still amazing how dim Betelgeuse is now. You can see the reddish glows in the pic which are areas of hydrogen gas being illuminated by energetic stars. The reddish area to the left of center towards the top is the Rosette Nebula and the faint reddish loop immediately to the left of Orion is Barnard's Loop. Also visible are the famous Orion Nebula and some reddish nebulosity above and to the left of it where the Horsehead and Flame Nebulas are.

Betelgeuse is the star in the middle near the top.

You can also see dark nebulae of gas and dust in the winter Milky Way that is near Orion on the left.

Orion and surrounding sky.
Greg Redfern

The European Southern Observatory recently imaged the DISK of Betelgeuse which was quite an amazing feat.

You can see the similarities in my pic and the one in the beginning of this video.

Using ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), astronomers have captured the unprecedented dimming of Betelgeuse, a red supergiant star in the constellation of Orion. The stunning new images of the star’s surface show not only the fading red supergiant but also how its apparent shape is changing.
Credit: ESO

Astronomers will be watching to see what happens.......

Sky Guy on VA