![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/eso0927e_20260731_021627.jpg\")
<\/a> This image is a color composite made from exposures from the Digitized Sky Survey 2 (DSS2). The field of view is approximately 2.0 x 1.5 degrees. Courtesy ESO\/Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin.<\/p>\nNow, for the first time, astronomers using the Very Large Telescope in Chile have announced the clearest image of what looks to be that companion star from images and data taken in 2024. It’s called Betelgeuse B, with the nickname of Siwarha, and it appears to be about 2 or 3 times the mass of the Sun, according to astronomer Miguel Montarg\u00e8s, who led the observation team. \u201cThis is the conclusion of a century-long quest,” Montarg\u00e8s said. Honestly, I thought we did not have the sensitivity to detect Betelgeuse B as it was predicted. Because it is more massive than predicted, we see it!\u201d Originally thought to be about as massive as the Sun, the new observations reveal that Betelgeuse B has around two to three times the mass of the Sun. \u201cThe fact that we can still discover a nearby companion, more massive and brighter than the Sun, around such a well-studied star is remarkable,\u201d says Montarg\u00e8s. \u201cThese are among the best moments in science: seeing something new, unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Search for Betelgeuse’s Companion<\/p>\n Astronomers have long suspected Betelgeuse had a companion, and found tantalizing evidence of it. But it’s always been tough to spot, due to Betelgeuse’s brightness and its variations in luminosity. Betelgeuse itself appears to be embedded in a lopsided envelope of material that it has ejected as it aged. That’s pretty normal as a supergiant like this evolves. It happens because the star has moved into a period in its evolution where it has stopped hydrogen fusion in its core. That change has led to mass-loss ejections of material now seen around the star.<\/p>\n Betelgeuse is a pulsating variable, which causes its brightness to vary over time as its size and temperature change. In 2019, observers began noticing that Betelgeuse was going through an unexpected dimming phase. Hubble Space Telescope images and data showed evidence of dense material moving through Betelgeuse’s atmosphere before being ejected to space. Observers concluded that as the hot material cooled, it formed a dust cloud that temporarily blocked light from the star. Astronomers also suggested that starspots might be dimming the star. Such variations in brightness very likely made it more difficult to find the companion star. More recent Hubble observations of Betelgeuse seemed to find strong evidence of a trail of dense gas swirling through the star’s atmosphere. The trail is caused by Betelgeuse B\/Siwarha as it orbits around a common center of gravity with Betelgeuse itself.<\/p>\n Betelgeuse B was directly imaged despite Betelgeuse’s brightness when astronomers used the SPHERE instrument on ESO\u2019s VLT. The team used extreme adaptive optics and then performed image processing on the data. While there’s definitely a companion there, astronomers have not yet determined if it’s gravitationally bound. Betelgeuse B appears to be a 2.6 to 3.1 solar-mass B-type young main-sequence star. <\/p>\n Watching the Betelgeuse System<\/p>\n VLT was the first telescope to directly image the star, but other telescopes have tried to see the companion, too, including the Gemini North Telescope in Hawai’i. According to study co-author Anthony Boccaletti, more observations will help solidify the find. \u201cIt is remarkable to see how SPHERE and advanced post-processing techniques, originally developed to find exoplanets, also excel at detecting a companion around a massive, evolved star like Betelgeuse,” said Boccaletti. \u201cTo be certain that the companion is really there, we still need to observe it in one year on the other side of the star, but there is very little space left for doubt,\u201d adds Montarg\u00e8s.<\/p>\n Betelgeuse’s recent dimming episode raised a lot of questions about its lifetime. Astronomers speculated that the star might be on the precipice of a supernova explosion. The discovery of the dust clouds mitigated some of that speculation, and it appears that the star won’t be blasting itself to pieces any time soon.<\/p>\n The presence of the companion has prompted astronomers to investigate how it might affect Betelgeuse’s anticipated supernova explosion. \u201cThe question is truly open whether this companion is going to have an impact on the evolution of the red supergiant,\u201d said Montarg\u00e8s. <\/p>\n If Betelgeuse’s evolution goes as expected, sometime in the next 100,000 years, it will go through a catastrophic mass-loss phase and what’s left will collapse down onto the core of the star. That will compress the core into a remnant \u2014 possibly a neutron star or even a black hole. The light from the explosion will brighten our night skies for several months before dimming down. The companion could be completely destroyed by the explosion, or perhaps a remnant of it, too, will survive. For now, however, astronomers will continue to observe Betelgeuse and its companion to finally verify Siwarha’s existence, characteristics, and effects on its larger companion as Betelgeuse slowly moves through old age. <\/p>\n For More Information<\/p>\n Astronomers Find Strongest Evidence Yet that Betelgeuse Has a Companion<\/a><\/p>\n VLT\/SPHERE Images of the Candidate Companion of Betelgeuse<\/a><\/p>\n NASA Hubble Helps Detect \u2018Wake\u2019 of Betelgeuse\u2019s Elusive Companion Star<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> This image, taken with ESO\u2019s Very Large Telescope (VLT), shows the clearest image ever of what likely is Betelgeuse B (nicknamed Siwarha), a star orbiting Betelgeuse. The image was taken with the SPHERE instrument in December 2024, when the companion was predicted to be furthest apart from Betelgeuse as seen from Earth. The circle indicates the size of Betelgeuse, which has been removed. The bright source to the left, marked with a crosshair, is consistent with being Betelgeuse B. Credit: ESO\/M. Montarg\u00e8s et al.<\/p>\n<\/a> An infrared view of Betelgeuse taken using the VISIR camera on the Very Large Telescope in Chile. It shows the extent of material being thrown off into space as Betelgeuse ages. This mass loss is a critical part of its stellar evolution. The small red circle in the middle has a diameter about four and a half times that of the Earth\u2019s orbit and represents the location of Betelgeuse\u2019s visible surface. The black disc corresponds to a very bright part of the image that was masked to allow the fainter nebula to be seen. Courtesy ESO\/P. Kervella<\/p>\n