Journey to Betelgeuse Star’s Companion | European Southern Observatory
This video takes us to the red supergiant star Betelgeuse, where astronomers have obtained the clearest image yet of what likely is a companion star orbiting it—Betelgeuse B. The video combines images taken with various telescopes at distinct wavelengths. It begins with a wide view of the sky in visible light. At 0:22, we see a mid-infrared image taken with the VISIR instrument at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT), showing a large and complex dusty envelope around Betelgeuse.
As we keep zooming in we eventually see Betelgeuse’s surface at 0:35, imaged in January 2019 with the SPHERE instrument, also at the VLT. The video ends with another SPHERE image where Betelgeuse has been removed, revealing a bright source next to it. This is likely its companion, Betelgeuse B. This image was obtained in December 2024, when the companion was predicted to be furthest away from Betelgeuse as seen from Earth.
Read science paper "VLT/SPHERE imaging of the candidate companion of Betelgeuse": https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso2611/eso2611a.pdf
Release Date: July 28, 2026
#NASA #Astronomy #Space #Science #Stars #Betelgeuse #SupergiantStars #BetelgeuseB #StellarCompanions #OrionConstellation #Astrophysics #Cosmos #Universe #VLT #VISIR #SPHERE #ParanalObservatory #Chile #Europe #DSS2 #STScI #STEM #Education #HD #Video
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