One of the brightest stars in the constellation Orion has diminished its brightness since December. Astronomers estimate that it could explode at any time in the coming weeks, oe ...
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1 of 53 | This is an artistic representation of the Proxima Centauri planetary system. The newly discovered Proxima c exoplanet, on the right, has an orbit of approximately 5.2 Earth years around its host star. The system also includes the smallest Proxima b, on the left, discovered in 2016. Look at this gallery for other planets that have been discovered recently. Illustration by Lorenzo Santinelli.
2 of 53 | This is an artist concept of GJ180d, the temperate super-Earth closest to us with the potential to sustain life. Robin Dienel / Courtesy of the Carnegie Institution for Science
3 of 53 | An illustration of WASP-12b while spiraling in a death dance towards its star. The planet will come to an end in three million years.
4 of 53 | TOI 700 d is the first potentially habitable Earth-sized planet discovered by NASA's TESS planet hunting mission. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
5 of 53 | The silhouette of the TOI 1338 b between its two host stars, the first such discovery for the TESS mission. TESS only detects transits from the largest star. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith
6 of 53 | This artist's illustration shows a wet exoplanet with an atmosphere of oxygen. The red sphere is the dwarf star M that orbits the exoplanet. Friedlander-Griswold / GSFC / NASA
7 of 53 | This artist's illustration of the Kepler 51 system shows recently discovered super-swollen exoplanets, which are also called "cotton candy" exoplanets because they are very light. NASA / ESA / STSci
8 of 53 | The conceptual illustration of this artist shows an exoplanet with two moons orbiting within the habitable zone of a red dwarf star. NASA / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics / D. Aguilar
9 of 53 | This is an artistic illustration of two exoplanets that collide in a binary star system. Lynette Cook / SOFIA / NASA
10 of 53 | This is an artistic illustration of a Neptune-type exoplanet at the icy outer ends of its star system. It could resemble a large newly discovered gas giant that takes about 20 years to orbit a star 11 light years from Earth. Francis Reddy / NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
11 of 53 | This image shows a comparison of the red dwarf star GJ 3512 with our solar system, as well as with other nearby red dwarf planetary systems. Guillem Anglada-Escude / IEEC / SpaceEngine.org
12 of 53 | The illustration of this artist shows the exoplanet K2-18b in orbit around its host star. It is currently the only super-Earth exoplanet that has water vapor in its atmosphere and could be within the proper temperature to sustain life. ESA / Hubble / M. Kornmesser
13 of 53 | This is an illustration of an exoluna losing mass as they push it around the gas giant that orbits. Thibaut Roger / University of Bern
14 of 53 | An illustration shows what the orbit of exoplanet HR 5183 b would be if it fell into our solar system. It would probably pass from the asteroid belt to Neptune, the eighth planet in our solar system. Adam Makarenko / WM Keck Observatory
15 of 53 | At least two giant planets, up to 20 million years old, orbit the Beta Pictoris star. In the background you can see a disk of dust and gas surrounding the star. P Rubini / AM Lagrange
16 of 53 | This is an artistic interpretation of how super Earth GJ 357 d could be. It is located within the habitable zone of its star, which is 31 light years from Earth. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / Chris Smith
17 of 53 | Artist's impression of a circuit disk around PDS 70 c, a giant gas exoplanet in a stellar system 370 light years away. NRAO / AUI / NSF, S. Dagnello
18 of 53 | The illustration of this artist shows two giant gas exoplanets that orbit the young star PDS 70. These planets are still growing by gathering material from a surrounding disk. In the process, they have gravitationally forged a large disk space. J. Olmsted (STScI)
19 of 53 | This is an artistic illustration of NGTS-4b, also known by astronomers as "The Forbidden Planet." It revolves around its star every 1.3 days and still maintains a gaseous atmosphere in the Neptune desert, where planets the size of Neptune are not found. Mark A. Garlick / University of Warwick
20 of 53 | An artistic illustration of HD 21749c, the first planet the size of the Earth found by TESS, as well as his brother, HD 21749b, a warm mini-Neptune. Robin Dienel / Carnegie Institution for Science
21 of 53 | A "hot Saturn" passes in front of its host star in this illustration. Astronomers studying the stars used "star earthquakes" to characterize the star, which provided critical information about the planet. Gabriel Pérez Díaz / Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands
22 of 53 | Artistic concept of TESS against the background of stars and planets in orbit in the Milky Way. Credit: ESA, M. Kornmesser (ESO), Aaron E. Lepsch (ADNET Systems Inc.), Britt Griswold (Maslow Media Group), NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and NASA's Cordar University Goddard Space Flight Center / Cornell University
23 of 53 | A super telescope performed the first direct observation of an exoplanet using optical interferometry. This method revealed a complex exoplanetary atmosphere with clouds of iron and silicates swirling in a storm across the planet. The technique presents unique possibilities to characterize many of the exoplanets known today. THAT
24 of 53 | This image shows an artist's impression of the surface of Barnard's star b, a super cold Earth discovered orbiting the Barnard star 6 light years away. ESO / M. Kornmesser
25 of 53 | This artist's illustration shows the newly discovered exoplanet K2-288Bb, 226 light years away and half the size of Neptune. It orbits the weakest member of a pair of great M-type stars every 31.3 days. Francis Reddy / Goddard Space Flight Center / NASA
26 of 53 | This is an artistic impression of the exoplanet HAT-P-11b. The planet has an extended helium atmosphere that is being dragged by the star, an orange dwarf star smaller but more active than our sun. Courtesy of Denis Bajram
27 of 53 | An artistic illustration of what would be the super-earth around the orange star HD 26965 (also known as 40 Eridani A). The recently discovered exoplanet is being compared to the fictional planet Vulcano because Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry said the star was the ideal candidate to host Vulcano, Spock's homeworld. University of Florida / Don Davis
28 of 53 | The TRAPPIST-1 star, an ultra-cold dwarf, has seven planets the size of Earth in orbit. NASA / JPL-Caltech
29 of 53 | For the first time, eight planets have been found that orbit around another star, joining with our solar system for the best known planets around a single star. The Kepler-90 system is in the constellation Draco, more than 2,500 light years from Earth. NASA / Ames Research Center / Wendy Stenzel
30 of 53 | The illustration of this artist shows the exoplanet Ross 128 b, with its red dwarf host star in the background. The planet is only 11 light years from our solar system. It is now the second closest temperate planet to be detected, after Proxima b. M. Kornmesser / South Observatory
31 of 53 | WASP-121b, 880 light years away, is considered a hot planet similar to Jupiter. It has a greater mass and radius than Jupiter, which makes it "more bloated." If WASP-121b were closer to its host star, the gravity of the star would destroy it. Engine House VFX / Bristol Science Center / University of Exeter
32 of 53 | NASA's Kepler space telescope team has identified 219 more planetary candidates, 10 of which are close to the size of the Earth and in the habitable zone of its stars. NASA / JPL-Caltech
33 of 53 | Welcome to the KELT-9 system. The host star is a hot type A star that spins rapidly and is about 2.5 times more massive and almost twice as hot as our sun. The hot star explodes its nearby planet KELT-9b with massive amounts of radiation, leading to a temperature of 4315.6 degrees Celsius, hotter than most stars and only 2000 degrees cooler than the sun. R. Hurt (IPAC) / NASA / JPL-Caltech
34 of 53 | The concept of this artist shows OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb, a planet that orbits an incredibly weak star 13,000 light years away from us. It is a planet "ice ball" with temperatures that reach minus -204.4 degrees Celsius. NASA / JPL-Caltech
35 of 53 | LHS 1140b is located in the habitable zone of liquid water surrounding its host star, a small weak red star called LHS 1140. The planet weighs about 6.6 times the Earth's mass and is shown passing in front of LHS 1140. Represented in blue is the atmosphere that the planet may have retained. M. Weiss / European Southern Observatory / CfA
36 of 53 | Conceptual image of an artist from the surface of the TRAPPIST-1f exoplanet. Of the seven discovered exoplanets that orbit around the ultrafast dwarf star TRAPPIST-1, this may be the most suitable for life. It has a size similar to that of the Earth, is a little colder than the Earth's temperature and is in the habitable zone of the star, which means that liquid water (and even the oceans) could be on the surface. The proximity of the star gives the sky a salmon tone, and the other planets are so close that they appear in the sky, like our own moon. NASA / JPL-Caltech
37 of 53 | Artist's conception of the binary system with three giant planets discovered, where one star houses two planets and the other houses the third. The system represents the smallest separation binary in which both stars house planets that have been observed. Courtesy of Robin Dienel
38 of 53 | The perception of this artist shows the planet Proxima in orbit around the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our solar system. European Southern Observatory / ESO / M. Kornmesser
39 of 53 | This artist's impression shows a view of the surface of the planet Next b. European Southern Observatory / M. Kornmesser
40 of 53 | An artist's representation shows the Earth-sized exoplanets TRAPPIST-1b and 1c in a rare double transit event when they pass in front of their ultra-cold red dwarf star, which allowed Hubble to take a look at their atmospheres. From NASA
41 of 53 | From a new discovery of 104 exoplanets, astronomers found four Earth-sized ones that orbit a dwarf star. Two of them have the potential to sustain life. The ship represented in this illustration is NASA's Kepler space telescope, which has helped confirm the existence of thousands of exoplanets. NASA / JPL-Caltech
42 of 53 | This artist's impression shows a view of the triple star system HD 131399 from near the giant planet orbiting the system. Located about 320 light years from Earth, the planet is about 16 million years old, which makes it one of the youngest exoplanets discovered to date. European Southern Observatory / ESO / L. Calçada
43 of 53 | An artistic impression of the planet Kepler-1647b, which is almost identical to Jupiter in both size and mass. The planet is expected to be more or less similar in appearance. But it is much hotter: Kepler-1647b is in the habitable zone. Lynette cook
44 of 53 | HD-106906b is a gas planet 11 times larger than Jupiter. It is believed that the planet formed in the center of its solar system, before being sent to fly to the edges of the region for a violent gravitational event. NASA / JPL-Caltech / R. Wounded (SSC-Caltech)
45 of 53 | Kepler-10b orbits at a distance more than 20 times closer to its star than Mercury from our own sun. Daytime temperatures exceed 1,300 degrees Celsius, which is hotter than lava flows on Earth. NASA / Kepler Mission / Dana Berry
46 of 53 | This planet similar to Jupiter in the HD-188753 system, 149 light years from Earth, has three suns. The main star is similar in mass to our own Sun. The system has been compared to Luke Skywalker's home planet, Tatooine, in "Star Wars." Planetquest / Caltech
47 of 53 | Kepler-421b is a transit exoplanet the size of Uranus with the longest known year, as it surrounds its star once every 704 days. The planet orbits an orange K-type star that is colder and dimmer than our Sun and is about 1,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Lyra. Harvard-Smithsonian, Astrophysics Center / DA Aguilar
48 of 53 | Astronomers discovered two planets less than three times the size of the Earth, orbiting stars similar to the sun in a star cluster approximately 3,000 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. Michael Bachofner
49 of 53 | This artist's conception shows a hypothetical planet with two moons orbiting the habitable zone of a red dwarf star. Most of the stellar neighbors closest to the sun are red dwarfs. D. Aguilar / Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
50 of 53 | Kepler-186f was the first validated planet the size of the Earth that was found orbiting a distant star in the habitable zone. This area is a range of distance from a star where liquid water could accumulate on the planet's surface. NASA / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle
51 of 53 | Kepler-69c is a super terrestrial planet similar to Venus. The planet is in the habitable zone of a star like our sun, approximately 2,700 light years from Earth in the constellation Cygnus. NASA Ames / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle
52 of 53 | The Kepler-444 system was formed when the Milky Way was only 2,000 million years old. The tight system houses five planets that vary in size, the smallest being comparable to the size of Mercury and the largest to Venus, orbiting its sun in less than 10 days. Tiago Campante / Peter Devine
53 of 53 | This artistic conceptual image compares the Earth, left, with Kepler-452b, which is approximately 60% larger. Both planets orbit a star of type G2 of approximately the same temperature; However, the star that hosts Kepler-452b is 6 billion years old, 1.5 billion years older than our sun. NASA / Ames / JPL-Caltech / T. Pyle (CNN) - Betelgeuse, the supergiant red star that acts as Orion's shoulder in his constellation, is having a moment. Normally, one of the brightest stars in the constellation has diminished its brightness since December.
It's a matter of when (not if the star becomes a supernova), but with Betelgeuse becoming weaker over time, astronomers theorize that it could happen very soon.
Edward Guinan, a professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Villanova, said the university has been monitoring the star since 1981. He was one of his favorites to watch as a child, so it could be said that Guinan has watched The star for most of his life.
Although the star experiences variability and the initial attenuation was expected, it seems that it will remain increasingly dim instead of returning to normal brightness, Guinan said.
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Then, the Gravitational Wave Observatory with Laser Interferometer (LIGO), detected gravitational waves on January 14 that seemed to come from the direction of Orion. The astronomy community initially thought that this could signal the end of Betelgeuse. If the star becomes a supernova, it would produce a gravitational wave that could be detected.
When Guinan read about the detection, he ran out and looked up. Betelgeuse was still there. And if it had exploded, it would appear as bright as Venus in our sky. As the days went by and more details about the gravitational wave burst were analyzed, Guinan said the waves seemed to come from a source that was 10 degrees from the star, not close enough.
But astronomers, including Guinan, estimate that it could explode at any time in the coming weeks, or in the next 100,000 years.
A very long or short countdown
Why the uncertainty? Because there are multiple factors that we simply do not know about Betelgeuse; The star is so bright that it makes it harder to observe and study it with telescopes.
We know that Betelgeuse is estimated to be a few million years old and about 700 light years away. And the name of "supergiant" is no joke: according to NASA, it is believed that the star is somewhere between the diameter of the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. That would be between 11 and 12 times the mass of our sun. But neither the mass nor its distance is definitive.
Factors such as mass, brightness and distance can tell us how advanced it is evolutionarily, Guinan said.
Guinan worked in a study that essentially tracked Betelgeuse from his current location to his birthplace. Initially, he was born in a star cluster next to the Orion Nebula, surrounded by other young stars. The star interacted with another before being ejected from the cluster.
Together, Guinan and Villanova astronomer Richard Wasatonic have been watching the lonely star for decades. Approximately two or three nights a week, when it is perfectly clear, Wasatonic watches the star with his garden telescope for an hour. It uses four different filters to capture varied data about the star and its darkening.
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They expected it to begin to darken in December because the star experiences periods of darkening and subsequent brightness every 425 days. And given the time that has passed since the star did something really intriguing, they actually debated whether they should continue watching it or not.
"But the stars are unfriendly when you stop watching them," Guinan said. "This is how it happens."
December arrived and the star began to darken. But instead of increasing the brightness again, it has become twice and a half weaker, Guinan said.
Guinan and Wasatonic reviewed data from the previous two centuries of observations, including Betelgeuse, thankfully, it is a favorite star in a popular constellation.
Nothing they saw matched the behavior they are seeing now.
Whats Next?
They plan to continue observing the star and update the Astronomer's Telegram, which is used to alert other astronomers about possible supernovae or comets.
Guinan told him that, it seems that the star is leveling, because the rate of change in its brightness is not as pronounced as a month ago. And they don't expect it to be a supernova right now. But if it continues to decline over the next two or three weeks, that could be a sign that something extraordinary is happening, Guinan said.
Of course, theories abound. This type of star is unstable, with large nuclear reactions inside that cause the formation of bubbles the size of the sun. The attenuation could even be attributed to a drop of material on the surface of the star that is sinking beneath. But all astronomers know for sure that while they tracked their variability, it went beyond the limits.
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At the recent meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Hawaii, Guinan spoke with different astronomers about his theories. They are divided when they think it will explode, but supernovae are not easy to model. One said his model showed that the star would weaken before exploding, but it may be a year or so before it does.
What will it look like?
The star swelled to its current size because it burned through hydrogen in its nucleus and changed to fused helium. Once it runs out, it will change to carbon. When it burns through its silicon, that is the end of the line. All that will remain is the iron of the star, but the iron cannot be fused, so the star will run out of energy. When that happens, iron collapses and causes the supernova. The star will implode, releasing shock waves and neutrinos, or ghostly particles, and explode. Astronomers estimate that it will probably become a condensed neutron star, but it could also become a black hole.
When that supernova occurs, it will appear as bright as the full moon in our sky and will remain so for weeks before diminishing its brightness. It would be visible to the naked eye for at least six months.
After mid-April, the star will be harder to observe because its trajectory sends it to the sun. But Guinan points out that if the supernova happened at that point, we could actually see the explosion during the day, as long as it wasn't too close to the sun.
Meanwhile, Wasatonic, Guinan and a lot of astronomers using a variety of telescopes are watching the star as much as possible, in case they can see a supernova in real time. If this happens, it would be the first; Astronomers generally only see the supernova itself. Although given its distance, we would be seeing an explosion that occurred about 700 years ago.
Supernova
