Related papers: The Betelgeuse Enigma: The Betelbuddy Hypothesis
We present spatially resolved observations of Betelgeuse (Alpha Orionis) obtained with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at wavelengths of ~7mm (44~GHz) and ~1.3cm (22~GHz) on 2019 August 2, just prior to the onset of the historical…
The 'Great Dimming' of the prototypical red supergiant Betelgeuse, which occurred between December 2019 and April 2020, gives us unprecedented insight into the processes occurring on the stellar surface and in the inner wind of this type of…
Despite being the best studied red supergiant star in our Galaxy, the physics behind the photometric variability and mass loss of Betelgeuse is poorly understood. Moreover, recently the star has experienced an unusual fading with its visual…
Critical transitions occur in complex dynamical systems, when the system dynamics undergoes a regime shift. These can often occur with little change in the mean amplitude of system response prior to the actual time of transition. The recent…
Recently published episodic spectral (Levesque and Massey, 2020) and high angular resolution (Montarges et al, 2020) observations of Betelgeuse suggest that the deep minimum of 2019-2020 was caused by an enhanced dust abundance in the…
We predict the existence of $\alpha$ Ori B, a low-mass companion orbiting Betelgeuse. This is motivated by the presence of a 2170-day Long Secondary Period (LSP) in Betelgeuse's lightcurve, a periodicity $\approx5$ times longer than the…
We conduct a rigorous examination of the nearby red supergiant Betelgeuse by drawing on the synthesis of new observational data and three different modeling techniques. Our observational results include the release of new, processed…
Betelgeuse has gone through a sudden shift in its brightness and dimmed mysteriously. This is likely caused by a hot blob of plasma ejected from Betelgeuse and then cooled to obscuring dust. If true, it is a remarkable opportunity to…
The $\sim$$2100$d Long Secondary Period of Betelgeuse's optical lightcurve and radial velocity motivated the prediction of a low-mass stellar companion, expected to be at maximal apparent separation from Betelgeuse around December 2024. We…
Betelgeuse is the nearest red supergiant, one of the brightest stars in our sky, and statistically speaking it would be expected to be "typical". Yet it exhibits many features that seem "curious", to say the least. For instance it has a…
The processes that shape the extended atmospheres of red supergiants (RSGs), heat their chromospheres, create molecular reservoirs, drive mass loss, and create dust remain poorly understood. Betelgeuse's V-band "Great Dimming" event of 2019…
The recent pre-print by Saio et al. 2023 argues that the supergiant Betelgeuse is already undergoing carbon burning, based on the assumption that all of its light variations are caused by radial pulsations. However, the angular diameter…
We assess whether gravity darkening, induced by a tidal interaction during a stellar fly-by, might be sufficient to explain the Great Dimming of Betelgeuse. Adopting several simple approximations, we calculate the tidal deformation and…
Recently, two independent analyses have asserted that the cause of the Long Secondary Period (LSP) observed in the variability spectrum of our nearest red supergiant, Betelgeuse ($\alpha$ Ori), is an as-yet undetected, low-mass binary…
Betelgeuse is an important variable star with many observations in the AAVSO database, but there is an annual gap of about four months where Betelgeuse is close to the sun and not observable at night. This gap could be filled with daylight…
The dramatic dimming episode of the red supergiant Betelgeuse in 2019/2020, caused by a partial darkening of the stellar disk, has highlighted gaps in the understanding of the evolution of massive stars. We analyzed numerical models to…
Betelgeuse is one of the most magnificent stars in the sky, and one of the nearest red supergiants. Astronomers gathered in Paris in the Autumn of 2012 to decide what we know about its structure, behaviour, and past and future evolution,…
Betelgeuse is a well known bright red supergiant that shows semi-regular variations with four approximate periods of 2200, 420, 230, and 185 days. While the longest period was customarily regarded as LSP (long secondary period) of unknown…
We explore the possibility that the star alpha Orionis (Betelgeuse) is the outcome of a merger that occurred in a low mass ratio (q = M2/M1 = 0.07 - 0.25) binary system some time in the past hundreds of thousands of years. To that goal, we…
The physical mechanism through which the outgoing material of massive red supergiants is accelerated above the escape velocity is unclear. Thanks to the transparency of its circumstellar envelope, the nearby red supergiant Betelgeuse gives…