{"id":35447,"date":"2025-07-31T17:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/35447\/"},"modified":"2025-07-31T17:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-31T17:42:08","slug":"theyve-seen-it-astronomers-finally-uncover-what-betelgeuse-was-hiding-and-its-bigger-than-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/35447\/","title":{"rendered":"They\u2019ve seen it: astronomers finally uncover what Betelgeuse was hiding\u2014and it\u2019s bigger than the Sun!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Betelgeuse has long captured our imaginations\u2014and now astronomers have uncovered a hidden partner in its cosmic dance, one 1.5 times the mass of our Sun!<\/p>\n<p>The Great Dimming That Sparked a Mystery<\/p>\n<p>Back in late 2019, Betelgeuse stunned skywatchers by dimming dramatically. For months, we all wondered if we were witnessing its final supernova act. It turns out the dip in brightness wasn\u2019t the star\u2019s death knell but a colossal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/3i-atlas-what-initial-observations-reveal-about-this-interstellar-visitor-crossing-our-solar-system_18834\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">dust cloud<\/a> it had expelled. That finding reignited interest in this red supergiant\u2014already famous for its sheer size, with a radius 700 times that of the Sun.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Betelgeuse burns red; Rigel shines blue \u2014 Orion leads the way. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wVP6qkSHGv\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/wVP6qkSHGv<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Milky Way Astronomers\u2728 (@fascinatingonX) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fascinatingonX\/status\/1942354356919050728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">July 7, 2025<\/a>  <\/p>\n<p>Hunting for a Companion Star<\/p>\n<p>Astronomers noticed Betelgeuse\u2019s light flickered on two cycles: a 400-day heartbeat and a much slower six-year rhythm. A nearby companion seemed a likely culprit, yet Hubble and Chandra saw nothing.<\/p>\n<p>Alopeke\u2019s Breakthrough<\/p>\n<p>Enter Alopeke, a high-speed imager on Gemini North\u2019s 8-meter telescope in Hawaii. By freezing Earth\u2019s atmospheric blur, Alopeke finally revealed Betelgeuse\u2019s secret companion. This newly spotted star is an A- or B-type pre\u2013main-sequence object\u2014hot, blue-white, and still igniting hydrogen in its core. Though six magnitudes fainter, it orbits just four <a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/a-hidden-ice-giant-at-the-edge-of-the-solar-system-new-simulations-reignite-the-cosmic-mystery_18292\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">astronomical units<\/a> from the supergiant, literally inside Betelgeuse\u2019s outer atmosphere.<\/p>\n<p>A Companion Destined for Doom<\/p>\n<p>This is the first time anyone has imaged a close stellar companion to a supergiant. Models said it couldn\u2019t be done, but Alopeke proved them wrong.<\/p>\n<p>Born together, the two stars share a destined dance: tidal forces will eventually drag the smaller star inward, consuming it in roughly 10,000 years.<\/p>\n<p>Looking Ahead to the 2027 Reunion<\/p>\n<p>To see this companion again, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/this-black-hole-merger-shatters-everything-astronomers-thought-possible_18936\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">astronomers<\/a> must wait until November 2027, when its orbit carries it to maximum separation\u2014ideal for imaging. Scientists eagerly plan to watch Betelgeuse before and during that next close approach to unlock more secrets of this stellar duo.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.futura-sciences.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/mayer-nathalie.avif\" class=\"attachment-100x100 size-100x100 wp-post-image\" alt=\"mayer-nathalie\" itemprop=\"image\"\/>                <\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t        Nathalie Mayer                <\/p>\n<p>\n    Journalist    <\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Born in Lorraine on a freezing winter night, storytelling has always inspired me, first through my grandmother&#8217;s tales and later Stephen King&#8217;s imagination. A physicist turned science communicator, I&#8217;ve collaborated with institutions like CEA, Total, Engie, and Futura. Today, I focus on unraveling Earth&#8217;s complex environmental and energy challenges, blending science with storytelling to illuminate solutions.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/auteur-fs-100x100.webp.webp\" class=\"attachment-100x100 size-100x100\" alt=\"author-fs\" itemprop=\"image\"  \/>                <\/p>\n<p>\t\t<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Betelgeuse has long captured our imaginations\u2014and now astronomers have uncovered a hidden partner in its cosmic dance, one&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,128,285],"class_list":["post-35447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}