Tag: Betelgeuse

One day, they say, Betelgeuse will explode. It promises to be spectacular: the star will detonate with the force of ten million suns; burning bright enough to be visible across half the known universe. From Earth it will appear to glow more intensely than the full moon; luminous enough to cast shado...

Since 1604, astronomers have awaited the Milky Way’s next naked-eye supernova. In the year 1054, the brightest supernova in recorded history, as seen from Earth, took place. Nearly 1000 years later, the Crab Nebula, pulsar, and supernova remnant can all be seen as the aftermath of this ...

Betelgeuse is located about 642 light-years from Earth. Despite such a distance, this star is among the ten brightest stars, given the impressive size of this supergiant. If Betelgeuse were to replace the Sun, it would engulf the entire Solar System up to Jupiter’s orbit. The mass of the st...