One of the brightest stars in the sky has been noticeably getting dimmer. Betelgeuse, a reddish star that is part of the Orion constellation, may be entering a pre-supernova phase - where it gets fainter before collapsing in a fiery explosion. A supernova is a powerful stellar explosion that occurs when a star 'dies'.
According to a report in Slate, over the last few months, Betelgeuse has gone from being the 12th brightest star in the sky to about the 20th. Located 642.5 light-years from Earth, this star, if it explodes, could be the closest supernova observed by humans.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete