blood-red supergiant star Betelgeuse surged in popularity last winter during its unbelievable dimming issue , which began in December and concluded in February . The angle of dip was so dramatic the star dropped out of the Top 20 bright stars , puzzling scientists as to its cause .
Betelgeuse is known to be variable in its brightness , change on a more or less even cycle . Even though the latest event was within this cycle , the magnitude command an account .
A few surmisal took midway stage to describe what happened . Some envisioned an intrinsical account : the star dimmed due to something happening on the interior , such as dust in its atmosphere ora jumbo cold spot . Others suggested the light was blocked by a cloud of material , erupted by the star itself , cooling down and blocking some of the lighting . This view now has new evidence to back it up thanks to the Hubble Space Telescope .
Researchers used the orbital observatory to study the outer layers of the sensation in ultraviolet spark . Between September and November 2019 , they observe hot material leaving the astral open and moving through its atmosphere . As this stuff impress through distance , it expanded , cooled , and finally blocked some of the starlight . This produced the enhanced dimming we find a few months ago . The study is published inThe Astrophysical Journal .
“ With Hubble , we see the material as it left the star topology ’s seeable surface and moved out through the atmosphere , before the dust forge that caused the star appear to dim , ” lead researcher Andrea Dupree , an associate director at The Center for Astrophysics , Harvard & Smithsonian , said in astatement . “ We could see the effect of a dumb , hot region in the southeast part of the lead moving outward . ”
“ This cloth was two to four time more lucent than the star ’s normal brightness , ” Dupree persist in . “ And then , about a month afterwards , the southerly cerebral hemisphere of Betelgeuse dimmed conspicuously as the star grow fainter . We think it is possible that a dark cloud ensue from the outflow that Hubble detect . Only Hubble gives us this evidence of what led up to the dimming . ”
It ’s possible the dismission of the material is linked to the astral hertz , which means we could observe the phenomenon again . The team will extend to hit the books the star with the Hubble Space Telescope as soon as possible .
Although the whodunit of the dimming sensation is getting clearer , many questions remain . Perhaps , however , it is easier to just see Betelgeuse ’s dramatic change as an omen we failed to compass for 2020 .
